Percy Jackson: The Demon Rites
by The Prince of Souls
Summary: One Month, that's all a mother gets to spend with their child before they're whisked away by an unknown force. And unfortunately, Percy Jackson just happened to be one of these children. Hell is now taking up arms through the Demon Rites to take down Olympus, one of Earth's last defences. Will Percy listen to the corrupted sword he now owns, or will the world render to ash?
1. 1: A Twisted Dawn

_A Legacy Moulded to Darkness_

 _Shall reach 16 against all weakness_

 _And watch the world succumb and cease_

 _A Twisted Soul shall reap with ease_

 _A single choice shall end his days_

 _The World to preserve or raze_

 _As the 9 Circles take reign once more_

 _Will the Hero fight or ignore...?_

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 _Pain._ That is all she felt as she sat down next to the empty crib, surrounded by shattered glass from the window.

It was the middle of the night, and she believed that her child would have been safe. This close to the gods no monster would lurk, so she and her new-born child could live in peace. Especially after her son's father turned insane and topped himself, leaving her and her son with nothing. Burning everything they had owned down.

Only a month old, and already gone. Her little boy was most likely dead. His guts spilt as a group of Cyclops would tear the boy apart for a small snack, or throat slit for an _empousa_ 's midnight treat. She shook her head, and continued to sob.

Sirens wailed from below, but the grieving mother took no notice. She held her son's blanket close, never wanting to let her baby boy's most prized possession.

His bright sea-green eyes filled her heart with love, and even more when the twinkled as he laughed.

A knock came from the front door.

"Ma'am?" A female voice came from outside of her apartment building. "Ms Jackson, NYPD, can we come in and ask you some questions?"

The woman now known as Ms Jackson stood shakily and slowly made her way out of her son's bedroom and to the front door, her knees almost buckling a few times.

She opened the door slowly, and saw a woman dressed in a suit and man dressed in a simple NYPD police uniform. Both held up their police badges.

"May we come inside? We need to take your statement about this night, Ms." The detective said softly, and Ms Jackson nodded numbly, stepping back and widening the door so the two police officers could step inside. They did, and she closed the door behind them.

They walked into the kitchen, were the grieving mother offered the two NYPD officers a cup of coffee. They both accepted and she poured them both a mug, handing the hot beverage to the two of them. She still held the blanket tight, her knuckles white from gripping it so tightly, fearful that she would lose it along with her son.

"So, Ms Jackson, can you explain your activities of tonight? Everything that has happened during your day so far – include anything different or unusual, like someone following you or just a strange feeling? Remember, every detail is important." The detective asked Ms Jackson gently.

"Please, just call me Sally." She waved her hand dismissively, before she had to grab the kitchen countertop quickly to stop her from collapsing. The male officer instantly rushed over, along with the detective. The detective slung Sally's arm over her shoulder and turned to the male officer, obviously not sure what to do.

"Get her a glass of water, will you?" The detective told the officer before she carried Sally out of the kitchen and into the lounge, settling her on the sofa.

"Sally, are you okay?" She asked, pulling out her flashlight and shining it into Sally's eyes.

They had rolled back, and were completely unresponsive.

"Officer Knowles, call a ambulance! We're losing her!" The detective barked out at her partner, who came rushing in, calling it up on his radio.

"Come on Ms Jackson, don't you dare die. We're going to find your son, don't worry!" The detective cried out, forcing air into her lungs and giving Sally CPR.

Five minutes later, ambulance sirens screamed from down below the apartment block. The paramedics were running up the stairs two at a time, desperate to reach the woman. She was key to solving this crime, and they knew just that much.

Moments later, the mother was on the ambulance, barely stable. The detective sat next to the grieving mother, holding her hand tightly.

"Perseus... My baby Percy..." Sally managed, before her hand went limp.

"No!" The detective cried out.

The rest of the night was a blur.

It was a night the detective didn't particularly wish to remember. But this was the fourteenth case she had worked on – all exactly the same. The baby a month old before kidnapped, fathers died in house fires shortly after the birth of the child. And to make it worse, the mothers were all killed by venom – snake venom.

Sally, thankfully, was the only one to tell the tale. For now...

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 _10 years later..._

"Push harder! Take the pain, those filthy scumbags in heaven won't hesitate to smite you along with all of those wretched pagan gods!"A deep, sinister voice barked. The voice originated by a shady figure wrapped in darkness. He looked weak and frail, but that shouldn't allow you to underestimate this man. His face was just skin and bone, no hair what-so-ever. His eyes were blood red, and screamed his bloodlust to the world. His lips were thin and dark coloured, almost unnatural.

In front of him, he pushed a cart covered in an elegant white cloth. But what was on the cart was the complete opposite of elegant. And nobody would wish to know what was hidden _under_ the white cloth. On top of the cart, was an assortment of... tools? Scalpels of different sizes and shapes were lined up in an orderly fashion, along with screwdrivers, power drills, pliers and bolt cutters. An assortment of large flasks filled with acids and alkalis were also lined up, along with a blowtorch. Even a cherry can gasoline was hanging off the side from a few pieces of rope.

"Ah, Perseus, how nice of you to let your presence known to me" He turned to a young boy of ten years. A pair of fishhooks tore through the section between the collar bone and shoulder joint, causing him a great deal of pain. There was a ghastly figure in front of him, throwing fiery punches into his ribs. And all Perseus had done was grunt, but at the wrong time.

The man cheerfully skipped toward him through the assortment of children his age going through the same torture as Perseus. He could have sworn he could hear the demonic figure humming the theme tune to a nursery rhyme. It was haunting.

The man waved his hand, and the demonic, flaming creature collapsed into the dark marble flooring, the only noise the scream of the wheels from the torturer's cart, and all beatings towards the other children slowly stopped, the beaters caving in on themselves. Some screamed like tortured souls as they were dragged into the marble, probably to be placed back on "The Rack".

"Now, this is what happens when you show a sign of weakness in front of an angel – a sign of pleasure. Watch closely kiddies, because it shall be you next on The Rack for an hour." The man said quietly. His voice was so sinister it echoed off of the walls.

Perseus' darkened sea green eyes widened in pure fear when he heart that. _No! Not again!_ He mentally screamed, swinging slightly which caused a cry of pain to rise up his throat as the barbed hooks in his shoulders moved.

The sadist picked up a scalpel and pressed it against Perseus' left side. In an agonizingly slow movement, he dragged the blade down the skin of the ten-year-old boy. The skin split open as the blade sliced through, thick crimson blood seeping through the skin and down his torso. Some of the blood ran onto the blade of the knife while the rest ran through the filthy, grey and yellow loincloth tied around his waist, adding a deep red colouring to the cloth.

After the man was satisfied, he sharply twisted the blade before removing the scalpel from Perseus' torso. A slight whimper of pain elected from Percy's throat as he felt the blood pouring from the wound stretching from his chest ad all the way down to his waist.

The man brought the blade and brought of a forked, snake-like tongue and licked the blood from the scalpel, before placing it back onto his cart.

All of a sudden, the demon swung around and dealt a sharp right hook to Perseus' jaw, filling the air with a sickening _CRACK!_

"Pain is for the weak-willed. I should kill you now, but I won't waste my time on a pitiful creature such as yourself. The other Princes will decide your fate." The man hissed, before spitting out a bit of Perseus' blood onto him. "Your blood is _disgusting_ , Perseus. I actually know a task that will improve your capabilities."

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

"Milady, Artemis!" A dark-haired girl with coppery skin called out as she ran through an assortment of silver tents. A girl with long, waist length auburn hair and a rather pale complexion turned at the sound of her name being called. Her eyes glowed bright silver, the capability of captivating anyone of either gender to look into the deep pools of quicksilver for all eternity, power swirling inside of them like a whirlpool of endless beauty.

"Yes? What is it, Zoë?" Artemis asked, facing her lieutenant as she stopped in front of her.

"Phoebe and Atalanta noticed a group of strange monsters about half a mile from our camp –" An earth-shattering howl cut through the air, causing Artemis' head to snap in that direction. The sound sounded familiar – something she had wished she would never hear again.

An elegant silver long-bow shimmered into existence within the goddess' open palms. She pulled the string back, and an arrow of pure silver formed out of the air. It pulsed with energy as she raised it up into the sky and released the arrow. The arrow then exploded into a firework of silver.

Zoë understood this instantly. "HUNTERS! RETURN TO CAMP CENTRE!" Artemis hollered, pulling the string back and running to where the howls had originated from. Atalanta and Phoebe along with three younger Hunters darted from the trees. Both of the elder Hunters were firing arrows behind them to protect the newest generation of Hunters, who would hopefully one day replace them and then be greater than they were.

Artemis shot an arrow over their heads, and it exploded into shrapnel upon hitting a monster.

"APOLLO!" Artemis screamed, and a golden flash appeared behind her.

A man in his mid twenties stood there, a golden bow in hand with an arrow already pulled back on the string. He looked a lot like Artemis, just more masculine, and he had bright blonde hair that was jelled upwards and had a pair of startling blue eyes that glowed in the sunset.

He fired an arrow over Artemis, hitting its target.

Apollo's sun chariot in the form of a bus skidded to a halt in the middle of the Hunter's camp.

"Abandon camp!" Artemis ordered, leaping backwards as a smoky form of a hound snapped its powerful jaws where she once was. "Go to Camp Half-Blood; tell Chiron of what has happened here!"

Zoë, Phoebe and Atalanta ensured that every last Hunter of Artemis was on board of the bus before they also hopped on, and the doors slammed shut. The Lieutenant of the Hunt instantly knew what needed to be done. Once everyone was seated, she took the driver's seat and punched down on the gas pedal, causing them to leave the two Twin Archers to defend for themselves against the unknown threat.

"Where is Father and the other Olympians?!" Artemis yelled over the ear-shattering howl from the devilish hounds that prowled towards them, ten more replacing every single one that was cut down by their arrows.

"I don't have a clue! I swear; I'll wring his neck out if he is with another mortal!" Apollo shouted back, letting loose five arrows at once.

They now had a clear sight of the monstrous hounds that flooded out of the woods like a broken dam. They were black in colour, their fur sharp needles like that of a porcupine, and a dark red and blue smoke enveloped them in a strong aura of death and raw energy, probably from all of the souls they had harvested. Their eyes were bright yellow, glowing violently and promised pain and suffering to both of the Twin Archers. Their teeth were endless as they snarled, each sharper than Death's Scythe and the size of daggers. The claws dug into the ground, tearing up the rapidly dying grass and dry soil. An aura of dread washed over the twin archers, and suddenly both seemed to look at each other, with a nod of agreement. Both snapped their bows in half, and from the two halves formed a pair of hunting knives in Artemis's hands while a pair of swords in Apollo's hands. Both traded one of the weapons, and they got into fighting stances. A few minutes were all they needed.

A hound leapt through the air, and Apollo hooked his arm through Artemis' and she sliced through the hound with her golden sword from Apollo. They continued to cut down as many of the endless horde of beasts, before a voice came from above:

"Party!" Hermes cheered, his caduceus switching to "laser mode", unleashing a barrage of red-hot beams of energy at the horde. A spear was also thrust through the head of another beast along with a trident, a wave crashing upon many of the monsters, signalling that both Poseidon and Athena had arrived. A warrior clad in Spartan armour then brought down an enormous sword of 6 feet upon the necks of two hounds, batting another away with his shield with a human skull moulded on the face of it. Ares had also decided to turn up.

The six gods then stood back to back, slashing fighting against the horde of endless monsters.

"TAKE COVER!" Apollo bellowed as he and Artemis began to glow golden and silver respectfully. Raw energy began to roll off of them as they entered their true forms, and with a extremely large blast of energy, all of the hounds were disintegrated into smouldering ash.

All six gods had also vanished from the clearing in the woods, only leaving a massive patch of death behind due to the hounds.

But all of the gods knew what they were, and not even Ares would want to go head to head with the council who commanded those beasts around.

A Council made up of the most evil of beings in the entire Universe, so evil that they dwell below the Pit of Tartarus, the Void and Chaos itself.

The 9 Circles of Hell was stirring after 5 Millennia, which was bad – _very bad_. This would be a war they would not help to win.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

 **Hey guys! So this is the re-write of A Demon's Wrath, now known as Percy Jackson: The Demon Rites. So, anyway, I don't have much to say other than I hope you guys really enjoyed this chapter!**

 **So, be awesome and drop a review! :D**

 **~The Prince of Souls**


	2. 2: Prepartions and a Meeting

The soft crackle of a fire filled the room. Perseus stood in the middle of the gloomy hall, looking around at the eight figures looming over him, and he couldn't stop the fear welling up inside of him – barely anyone escaped a council with the First Hierarchy. These eight were the Princes of Hell, and each governed a Circle of Hell except for the Ninth, where the Devil – the Dark Made Flesh, the Crooked One, the Eldest child of the Creator – himself was trapped.

On the far left of the grand hall sat a man surrounded by bees, wasps and flies. His face was non-existent, only being a swarm of flies and bees. This was Beelzebub, a Demon Prince of the Seraphim, and one of the most powerful of all Demons, as he and the other seven Princes were fallen Angels. However, he and Leviathan were the first Angels to fall along with Lucifer after they had taken a mortal as their wives and had children – the Nephilim, the Abominations.

Next to him, was Leviathan himself, another Prince of Seraphim. He sat upon a black marble throne and a torn cloak obscured his face other than his long, dark green beard. He reeked of stagnant water and the monsters of the deep. He was the father to the eldest species of monsters, and he along with Michael and God had destroyed them and scattered the remains across the daunting mountain of Purgatory – the Realm between Hell and Heaven, where the non-believers go.

Asmodeus was next, the third and final Prince of Seraphim. Not much was known about this demon, other than that he was someone who was not to be trifled with. His face was dark with soot and covered in scars, his long, greasy hair drooping low. His arms were heavily muscular and his eyes seemed to glow a harsh red, offsetting to Perseus.

The Prince of Cherubim, Berith, was next, one of the middle thrones. His eyes were wild, darting around the room as if searching for something. His mouth was curved down slightly as his head often twitched, making him turn around extremely often. Perseus knew not much about him, but he did know that the Demon got off on homicides – screwed up, but it _is_ Hell.

Astaroth was one of the centre Princes of the First Hierarchy, and was oddly enough, female unlike the rest of them. She was the first of the Princesses of Thrones as was far by one of the most powerful of all Demons, making her a force to be reckoned with. Her, Beelzebub, Leviathan and Azazel were far-by the most powerful being in all of Hell. However, Azazel wasn't a Prince of the First Hierarchy. He was actually the self-proclaimed _King_ of Hell.

Verrine was also a Prince of Thrones, and was just below Astaroth. He is not as powerful as the First Prince of Thrones, but he was impatient. Like now, he looked ready to go up to Earth and smite some mortals due to this long wait.

Gressil was the third Prince of Thrones, who has an uncanny ability to tempt men with impurity. He and Sonniellon were the weakest of the eight of them. And last and least powerful is Sonniellon, the fourth and final Prince of Thrones, who would tempt men to hate.

"Perseus Jackson, come forward." Astaroth spoke quietly, but her voice echoed off of the walls. Percy felt weak at the knees as the wave of power crashed over him. But he walked forward, none-the-less. These people were not people you would want to disobey.

"Alistair, we have taken interest on your concerns for this candidate. If he fails, he will be exterminated. But, we will not take to such measures as making him trek to the Ninth Circle and return with the head of one of the five heads of Lucifer's wives." Leviathan glowered, glaring at the Torturer of Hell with a murderous glint in his eyes.

"So is he getting let off _again?_ I must apologise, My Princes, but this little runt has shown enough weakness to be killed many times over!" Alistair glared at his superiors, clearly not scared of them.

"Silence or your consequences will be severe. Now, of you would be kind enough to leave us with Perseus; I believe that our plans for him are suffice." Verrine cracked his knuckles, his non-existent patience wavering.

Alistair nodded in respect for the First Hierarchy before taking his leave. Massive stone doors flew up from the ground as Astaroth waved her hand. Now, eight pairs of eyes were focused on the ten-year-old.

A flash of flames appeared before Perseus, causing him to jump backwards. As the flames died down, there stood a man of at least 7ft with long salt and pepper hair pulled into a pony tail. His face was marred by a single scar on his jaw line, and his skin was ghostly pale. His eyes radiated power, like liquid gold swirling around – but there was no pupil or irises, just the golden sclera.

A name burned itself into the inside of Perseus' skull: _Azazel_.

"Now, let's get down to business." The demon cracked his neck to both sides before drawing a pair of swords made from a hideous dark metal that shifted colours fairly often from dark purple to dark green and yellow, and then black.

Perseus remained silent out of fear that he would be smitten for answering.

"Now, I have an idea I have been planning for a while. And this could be Perseus' only chance of redemption. Is anyone willing to deny that we do this?" Azazel turned to the members of the First Hierarchy and all shook their heads. "Good, now, Perseus Jackson, I believe that you qualify for this. As of now, war is brewing between us and one of those pathetic pagan gods." He spat onto the ground.

Beelzebub rose from his seat. "What did you do this time, Azazel?" He snarled accusingly, flies and wasps flying over to the yellow-eyed demon.

"Olympus started pissing me off, and I acted accordingly. Now, Perseus here will have a job." The demon grinned like a mad man at the boy. "He will slay the Hunters of Artemis. His main target is their Lieutenant – and then the goddess herself, Artemis. Without the Hunters, the Demigod spawn of theirs will be useless. Then, we can make our move to ultimate power once more."

"This is preposterous! Insane!" Leviathan roared, leaping out of his throne too, summoning a spear. "Do you realise that we have just increased the risk of another Civil War, the Angels declaring war once more and even worse: the Dark Made Flesh himself breaks his bonds and his five wives and himself take over Hell once more! You complete and utter imbecile!"

"Ah, but we could simply say that we were attacked. A heightened number of Nephilim and Cambions worldwide are dying. Along with the heightened number of Magicians and Demigods dying as well, we might as well take this chance upon us. Think about it: Hell once more the most powerful force on Earth, before we take on the Heavens themselves! We would be even more powerful than we were in the Dark Ages after those pitiful Romans fell due to their greed and lust!" Azazel reasoned with the council. A few members nodded, while the rest just retained their grim expressions. "As I was saying before I was interrupted by those ignorant three individuals," the yellow-eyed Demon glared pointedly at Leviathan, Astaroth and Beelzebub, "I recommend that we send Perseus to where the Hunters of Artemis reside, and he slays them. Any others we believe are not progressing as well will accompany, preferably around five or six of them. Any recommendations?"

Perseus just stood there, blank faced. He knew that the mission was going to be pure suicide. The legends of the eternally beautiful Huntress Artemis reached all the way down to the Ninth Circle from what he had learnt. She had never missed a kill, not even Orion could escape her wrath after raping one of her Hunters. She would most definitely kill him before he is even within a mile's range of her from what the legends told. Same could be said to her younger twin brother, Apollo. And Artemis' deep hatred for males would most not defiantly play in his side of the court.

"Right; so, Perseus, are you ready to be a legend all throughout the universe? So great, that even this council will never doubt you again?" Azazel turned to Perseus. His tone said one clear message however: _turn this down and I will torture you for all eternity._

"I will accept in order to retain my place in the Trials." Perseus stated in monotone, like a robot.

"Good. Complete your trials, and return here to attend your mission. We need you to be worthy and not some weak-minded piece of scum not worth to be on the bottom of my shoe. Go and complete the Trials of Enoch and earn your place in the many Grimoire and _Liber Noctis Aeternae Obruat_."

Perseus bowed his head in respect. "You are dismissed." He didn't need to be told twice, and he quickly left the council of the First Hierarchy. He now had some time to plan his death scene with the Hunters of Artemis.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

"Now, you are extremely lucky to have made it this far, children!" The voice of Azazel echoed off of the walls of the large hall. He and the Demons of all three Hierarchies stood upon a stage, while the ground level was a sea of boys and girls, all aged from twelve to fourteen.

Percy was in the middle of the sea, and was fairly to lose. He was fairly short compared to many of these people. Most of the girls were even taller than him!

Only two years had passed, and these were filled with agonizing long sessions of brawling and beatings. Many of them had died – only around a thousand of them were still in the Trials, while the rest had been killed. They had either stepped out of line, fallen into out of their quarters or they just simply vanished into thin air. Still, 9,000 of them were gone, and it was frightening. And nobody ever left this final trial the same.

"The final challenge is almost upon you, and as you probably know, not all of you will survive! This Trial will push you to your limits, stretch what is left of your emotion! You will be the new Knights after this – better than even Cain, the Father of Murder! Pack your items wisely, and your trial will begin at sunset. Oh, and remember to wear something warm! You will leave trough this Gateway to Hell and enjoy what could be your final days. Go shopping, get laid, we don't care. Just don't run. We will find and kill you – slowly." Azazel announced, and a fiery portal opened up behind them all. All of the children filed out into the portal and onto Earth.

Everyone went off in small groups – everyone except for Percy. He was simply looking around at the city around him in amazement. Tall buildings reached up to the slowly lightening sky, the Moon large as it slowly descended towards the horizon. Woodland lurked around behind him, and the sound of the birds chirping enchanted the boy. The wildlife seemed peaceful up here, on Earth, unlike Hell. He couldn't believe that this place would one day become a battleground.

On his own, Percy wondered into the woodland. It didn't take him too long to get lost in the forest. It seemed that the further the boy trekked, the denser the woodland became, making the forest a lot more difficult to navigate. A rabbit darted between his legs, and made a hard left. Out of pure curiosity, Percy decided to follow the nifty animal. Decent food was rare in Hell, only getting a "Bargain Bucket" from some KFC once every six months when some of the older candidates went on little detours to the outside world due to them being on Alistair's good side – which was extremely rare for someone to be even acquainted with the infamous Torturer of Hell.

The rabbit had a distinct scent to in, and Percy often lost sight of it as it darted through the undergrowth. But the overwhelming scent of the wild creature was captivating for Percy. To make matters worse for him, the sun seemed to be rising quickly, causing beams of sunlight to break through the thick canopy of leaves, giving the forest a queer, yet soft, glow. A sound quite different to the birds chirping and other different forms of the various animals that inhabited the woodlands communicating with one another reached Percy's ears – the sound of running water.

The rabbit was drinking from a narrow stream, probably about knee-deep for Percy. A twig snapped under Percy's foot and the rabbit's head rose in alarm, and looked around before running off to the right – upstream, possibly to where its burrow was or other rabbits.

The sound of a bow string being drawn reached the ears of the twelve-year-old. He closed his eyes and mentally cursed in Enochian – the Ancient Tongue of the Heavens and Hell. A light breathing was felt on his face, and he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes instantly locked with a pair of enchanting silver eyes that swirled like quicksilver – purely beautiful. She was young – around his age – and his height, a bit taller if not. Her scent was purely intoxicating, of pine trees and the various forests and wild flowers.

It was so different to Percy, only really knowing what rotten flesh, blood and burning hair smelt like. And the odd food they were given 90% of the time. It intrigued him so much, everything about her seemed to cause his heart to suddenly leap and spin in circles.

"What is a _boy_ doing in the wilderness all alone?" She asked, cocking her head. The world _boy_ rolled off her tongue like poison, all the hatred she could muster put into the word.

Something about her screamed to Percy that he could tell her anything – and even trust her with his life. It was so... so... so strange... He actually had a strange sensation running through his mind, as if he would happily die for the girl before him. So, he said something. And it was fairly intelligent, for his current mindset.

"I got lost after looking into this place. I've never seen or heard of such of a place, and it just captivated me." He answered, before a question crossed his mind. "But what are _you_ doing out here? You look my age!"

The girl gave him a suspicious look. "Never seen a forest; or any wildlife?" She seemed intrigued about this boy. He sent off a strange vibe. As if she and he were to be close in the future.

"No. Now, why are you here? You seem to know your way around this strange place, and obviously not normal with that bow and arrow." Percy arched an eyebrow, curious why she even carried such an old-fashioned weapon.

"I live in the wildlife. I am Artemis, and you are?" She said coolly, taking a step away from the boy.

"Perseus Jackson, a pleasure to meet you, Artemis." Percy offered her a nod of mutual respect. Artemis returned it, unable to shake the strange sensations running through her mind. Even her heart felt strange, as if it was beating faster within her chest.

"Perseus Jackson..." She said slowly, a strange ringing sensation running through her mind.

"Yes, but I do prefer Percy." Percy offered her a small lop-sided smile, and she returned the kind gesture with a small smile.

"Okay then, Percy." Artemis nodded. An awkward silence stretched out between them.

"So, uh, do you know a way out of here, Artemis?" Percy asked, and the auburn-haired girl nodded.

"Yes, follow me." She flicked her head to the side, and began to walk downstream. After an hour or so, they reached the edge of the woodland, where a road cut through leading to the same city Percy had seen beforehand.

"So... Uh, Artemis..." Percy stumbled for words as they slowly walked along the side of the road, towards the city.

"Yes, Percy?" She turned to face him.

"Do you want to get some... uh... lunch with me? You know, to thank you for helping me out of the forest." Percy stammered out, and Artemis looked fairly shocked. Was this a... date or something?

"Y-yeah, sure, why not?" She answered quickly, not stopping the words from rolling off of his lips.

"Uh, so... where? I'm not familiar with this place." This was completely different to Percy. He was extremely nervous, not understanding the tingling sensations fluttering throughout his entire body.

"The forest is my home; I do not usually venture these cities, Perseus." Artemis turned to him, a steely look in her eyes.

"Oh... yeah, right," Percy said, looking down at the ground. He wasn't even hungry; he just wanted an excuse to talk to Artemis. She seemed nice, and a complete opposite to what she was described to be in the myths.

Then, Artemis looked up at the sky. "Five. Sun's going to be setting in a while." She commented, and Percy's eyes widened.

"Oh... crap..." He muttered, turning to Artemis. "I've uh... got to go home. My carer's will be extremely angry if I don't turn up. It was nice meeting you, Lady Artemis." Percy smiled at her, and Artemis froze when he called her that. He defiantly wasn't mortal – she knew that much.

"Oh, and we from below are not all as you think. Some of us just lose our ways, or just feel like this is the only tie they have to keep them alive. Goodbye, and hopefully next time we meet will not be on the battlefield." Percy said for one last time fore he broke off into a sprint towards the city's border, the Gateway was located. The sun was just about to touch the horizon when he dived through, and the portal slammed shut behind him.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

A girl in a silver hunting uniform flashed into a room of gold and marble in a shower of silver.

" **OLYMPIANS!** " She summoned her bow and pulled back the string, firing the recently formed arrow into the air and it exploded above the Throne Room upon the eternal city of Olympus. One by one, the eleven other Olympian Gods and Goddesses flashed into the throne room.

All sat down upon their thrones, and a bearded man in the largest throne of solid gold turned to Artemis. "Why have you called a meeting, Artemis?"

"I encountered a male today. Twelve, and appears to be in the Demon Ranks." Artemis remained stoic, glaring at Zeus.

"Did he hurt you?" Apollo instantly asked, on the edge of his seat.

"No. He was... peaceful. Going on about the beauty of the wilderness, and how he had never seen anything remotely like it before. It was only at the end he stated that he knew of my title as a goddess, and then revealed that he would rather not meet on the battlefield. I believe that he is genuinely not on their side." Artemis explained, smiling slightly at the thought of him.

Of course, a certain goddess picked up on it.

"There's something else niece, isn't there?" A man said from the left of Zeus. He sat in a fishing hair, his beard long and raven black, his eyes a vibrant sea green – just like Percy's.

"His name rings a bell in my head. Perseus Jackson, his name was." She nodded, before telling her uncle.

The colour dropped from his face. "No..." Poseidon muttered, instantly standing up, trident in hand.

"What's wrong, uncle P?" Apollo asked, looking at his usually chilled back uncle look angry, scared and sad at the same time.

"Percy... My daughter, Sally Jackson, had a son called Perseus Jackson and he went missing at a month old. Six month before his birth, the father was killed in a house fire." Poseidon explained, and the pieces fell together for Artemis. She had just stumbled upon how the demons were gathering their ranks.

And a legacy of them was a member of their ranks.

"I must tell my daughter. She will need to meet with him soon." Poseidon vanished in a column of sea water.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

Nine hundred boys and girls stood in line. The rest had actually had the guts to try and leave the Trials, but it went wrong... A few mangled bodies were carried back by Hell Hounds, other just dismembered arms and a few heads. It was pretty bloody to be exact.

"Now, it is time for your final challenge!" Astaroth announced. "And for this challenge, you will trek to the Ninth Circle and achieve the target we gave to you! Your target is pretty simple, children! You will be told the second you fall to the Circle!"

All of the candidates nodded their heads in acceptance. This was most likely going to be their final moments alive.

"Your mission is to retrieve the Sword of Enoch! Kill all enemies that stand in your way! The first wielder of the sword shall be a Knight of Hell, along with the Father of Murder! Good Night, Good Luck!" All of the demons stomped once, and the floor opened beneath the children opened up into an endless abyss of freezing cold air. Their cries of surprise were all that was left in the air as they plummeted down towards the Prison of Satan...

 _ **The DemonRites**_

 **Okay, so this is chapter 2! Thanks for the reviews guys! I know Artemis seemed a bit OOC... Okay, VERY OOC, but I think she's better this way. More awesome, if not.**

 **Anyway, I'm going to try and keep these A/Ns to a minimum, so yeah! Thanks for reading, and I hoped you guys enjoyed!**

 **I'll see you next chapter, which will be about Friday or Saturday!**

 **Until next time!**

 **~The Prince of Souls**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO** **NOT** **OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS! THE SERIES BELONGS TO RICK RIORDAN, THE AUTHOR WHO COCKED UP THE ENDING TO THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS (no offence Rick)! Oh, and the demons – they belong to themselves, who live downstairs.**


	3. 3: The Final Trial Begins

CNN News:

"And here we are after the twelfth anniversary since the mass kidnapper of one-month old babies had ended. And we announce that a new lead has been found, where a massive victims of a deadly animal mauling has been found across the New York State area. All of these victims appear to be a number of the abducted children."

"However, none of the others have been found, and many mothers are grieving over their children, the oldest being seventeen and the youngest now twelve years of age. The last known victim was Perseus 'Percy' Jackson, who was abducted on the 13th of September 1993. His mother was also the only surviving mother of all of the victims, but still left the police with nothing so it was rendered a cold case until now."

"So if anyone has any information regarding the still missing children, please report straight to the FBI or your local police force. All names of the abducted and their mothers is on our website."

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

Percy was having the time of his life.

Okay, he wasn't. He was petrified. The only thing around that had surrounded them was actually darkness and a weak glow from some lighters. The only sound was the constant _DRIP! DRIP_ sound coming from around them. The air was bitter, biting into their exposed flesh. Nobody was well-prepared for this situation, meaning one thing: they had little time before frost bite would kick in and they would start dropping.

And if you thought that there was no way for the situation to get any worse – well, it could. They had no bloody clue where to go! The demons were pushing the limits of everyone, because they were unsure why they got something so evil. This was probably going to be even harder than eliminating the Hunters of Artemis along with the goddess herself would be.

Survival instincts kicking in, Percy picked up a small, but sharp stone. He smashed it against a rather large, jagged stalemate reaching up to the ceiling of the cavern from the ground. After five long minutes, it came loose.

"We need to make a weapon. It will defend us against the threats in this place!" A sixteen-year-old yelled out after seeing what Percy was doing.

Many of the candidates for the Trials of Enoch found jagged scraps of rock on the ground around them, and began crafted spearheads, short swords and hatchets out of the rock.

It had taken Percy a long time, but the stalemate was soon crafted into a five-foot long sword, it was sharp and would be effective, but it wouldn't be right. The weight was completely off, and the sword was obviously too large for the young boy; but it was a weapon, and it would have to make do.

He slowly stood up, his eyes still adjusting to the total darkness they were in. A drip drop sound came from all around them, confirming suspicions that they were underground – a cave or cavern to be specific. Many of the candidates were walking around, trying to think of the right way out of the place. Percy decided to join them.

"Ah!" Some girl screamed in surprise. Percy looked in the direction of the cry, and saw a gaping hole where she possibly once stood. Everyone ran over to try and help her, but when they got there, all that stared up at them was not one, but thousands of pairs of beady, bright red eyes. And one pair of white eyes full of fear.

"Help..." She whimpered, before her screams tore through the air as the endless sea of unknown creatures leapt on top of her. There was only one sound when she was bombarded, and that was the tearing of flesh once her cries of agony slowly died down as she was eaten alive by the creatures.

Percy kept his eyes peeled on the scene, not daring to look away. This was the first way out they had spotted in the entire time they had been in the Ninth Circle. And something told him that it was the only way out. So, Percy inched closer to the gap.

"Jackson!" One of the candidates hissed, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"This is the only way out of here so far. There's a water source under us, so that if we cut through those monsters and get there, we would have a supply of water. All we would need is food." Percy stated, as if it was common knowledge. He had no idea, but a tugging sensation in his gut and a voice in his head were telling him that water was nearby, and exactly where it was. He could even hear the sound of water lapping against a shore.

"Oh, right, and we all die from whatever those things were that ate Ali alive!" The same candidate as before stated. A name rung through Percy's head: _Royce_.

"No. By the sound of them, they're most likely weak against groups of people. They'll only pick off strays." Percy turned to Royce.

"There's most likely enough down there to kill us all five times over! It's completely suicide!"

"These Trials of Enoch are bloody suicide!" Percy rested at the edge of the abyss, sharpening his make-shift sword with a sharp stone. "Look, this is the only lead to completing this task so far. I don't want to die here, so it's worth the shot to go down there and fight our way through. Trust me for once, will you?!"

"Last time anyone trusted you, we all got three days on the rack." Some girl in the back growled, and Percy shook his head in annoyance.

"You didn't trust me then. You made me complete the task alone while you all tried to do it on your own. You all failed while I succeeded, Cassandra." Percy hopped up to his feet. "So, I guess that this is a solo mission. Okay then, see you on the rack."

And with that, Percy Jackson jumped into the dark abyss.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

Artemis was currently perched in a tree in Central Park. Unlike most times, however, she was currently in the form of a twenty-year-old. This form made her more intimidating but also more understanding. Her long, luscious auburn hair was tied up in a pony tail, and her glowing silver eyes shone with a yellowish glint, like quicksilver mixed with a hint of gold.

She wore a silver shirt that hugged her slim, athletic form and a pair of light blue skinny jeans ripped at the knees and a pair of white converse.

A woman then came into her sights. Her long, dark brown hair was streaked grey from intense stress, and Artemis knew exactly why. After all these years, Sally Jackson still longed for her son who had simply vanished off the face of the Earth. Sally wore a simple shirt and jeans and flats. Nothing fancy, but her sea green eyes swam with power and emotion.

Artemis remembered well about Sally. She had once tried to recruit her into the hunt, but Poseidon had wished against it, simply requesting that she watch over one of his only daughters when he could not. And she knew why. Sally was one of the most powerful descendents of Poseidon that ever existed. Zeus even wanted her dead when Olympus first learnt of her extraordinary amounts of power. But war almost broke out. Even Athena backed Poseidon, stating that it was "unwise" to kill an innocent mortal that could be used to their advantage.

Artemis leapt down from the branch she was perched on, almost startling Sally. She drew a bronze pen from her pocket and uncapped it. The blade of the sword was three feet long and shaped like a leaf – a traditional Greek _Xiphos_ made out of Celestial Bronze. _Anaklusmos_ Artemis thought bitterly, remembering who its original owner was and how it was taken from her.

"Sally Jackson," Artemis greeted, motioning for Sally to lower the sword. "I come in peace, Sally. I actually come with news you would like to hear."

Sally however, kept her sword level at Artemis. "Unless it is about my son, I don't care." She snapped, and Artemis sighed.

"I saw Perseus yesterday, Sally." Artemis said, and Sally lowered her sword a little.

"Where is he? How is he?!" The eager mother demanded, her eyes gleaming from hope.

"He is alive and well, Sally. However, he is not in the best of situations. A sticky predicament and he should return to this world soon, that I assure you." Artemis assured her, and Sally fully lowered the sword.

"Another world? What does that mean?" Sally asked haughtily.

"As you are aware, the Demons have recently made an act of war by attacking the Hunters of Artemis; and your son... Well... From what I have gathered, he was taken that night twelve years ago and has been trained under the ranks of the Demons." Artemis answered carefully. She was fully aware of what this demigoddess was capable of – and it wasn't pretty at all. Sally was the most powerful descendent of the sea god – even more powerful than Triton according to the rumours floating around Olympus. Hopefully, she would never be on the receiving end of this woman's wrath.

"What are you saying, Lady Artemis..?" Sally's face was cast over by a shadow as she said this, which made the Moon Goddess question her idea to inform the still grieving mother of Percy Jackson. "Is my son some sort of demon of such?!"

"Not a demon – _trained_ , by them, daughter of Poseidon. He seems strong, and is hopefully not willing to fight against us." Artemis said in an attempt to calm Sally, but the mother's sea green eyes continued to darken.

"Get out of my sight, goddess." Sally spat. The air around Artemis began to heavy, notifying her that it was in fact the time to take her leave.

"Just to let you know," Artemis said heavily, "You should try and contact him, Sally. He doesn't know of your existence as far as I am concerned. I wish you the best." And that was the end of it – Artemis just flashed out in a bright flash of silver light, leaving behind silver dust in the air that shone like glitter in the sunlight.

Sally Jackson sighed, her eyes finally tearing up. She sat down on a nearby bench and wept silently. Some tears of joy, while others were simply because her son was in _Hell_. It had to be Hell of all places – the place of eternal damnation.

But her baby boy was alive – that is what mattered to her. And to make it better, she knew where he was. But one question still floated around her mind:

 _What does Hell want with Percy, and why was it him stolen?_

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

A lone man with bright yellow eyes sat in a throne lazily, playing with a small flame that rolled through his fingers like a coin. The room around was dimly lit by burning braziers in each corner of his room and a further two on opposite sides of the throne. It was more like a cave by the walls all jagged, but there were columns of some dark, black metal rising up from the floor where a dome was supported above. Up above, screaming souls could be seen pounding against the glass or just flying around in constant pain and agony.

The door opened and closed quickly, alerting the man towards the door. His yellow eyes narrowed at who had entered the throne room.

"Alistair." The man spoke darkly, his voice holding much power. It echoed off of the jagged walls of the hall and the souls above seemed to scamper away, leaving the above just an endless tornado of ice and fire. "Why have you come?"

"I hear of the council's acceptance of your declare of war on the Olympians, Azazel." Alistair remarked curtly, his black and white eyes glowing as he spoke.

"Give me a reason not to strike you down this instance, you pathetic excuse for a demon." Azazel sneered, drawing a dark coloured sword from the shadows.

"I come with a proposition, Azazel." The Torturer of Hell proposed to the self-proclaimed King of Hell. "A method to take down Olympus; but you have to guarantee that I get payment."

"Another extension to the Rack, I'm guessing? Or some more torture equipment?" Azazel waved his hand dismissively, not really caring for what Alistair had to say.

"Not exactly – it is a program for those who fail the Trials of Enoch. Mutations! We turn them into warriors better than the Knights of Hell! A win-win situation for the two of us, Azazel. And to make it even better, we will be guaranteed victory. Also if we join with another of Olympus' enemies." Alistair still said what he wanted to, not caring for what Azazel actually thought.

"You've some high expectations for this ' _program_ ', Alistair. And the enemies of Olympus was already in the book, you pathetic imbecile." Azazel glowered, pondering on the thought of making use of the failures instead of just simply killing them actually interesting him.

"It is possible if I do. Drain them of emotion and humanity then turn them into walking war machines. It's pure genius!" Alistair grinned like a Cheshire cat, looking like a complete maniac.

"I'll think of it. But what would the first step to this plan of yours be, Alistair?" Azazel stopped playing with the flame and met eyes with Alistair.

"It's pretty simple actually. We corrupt an already grey heart, someone with hate for the Olympians within their demigod camp. Then, everything will fall into place for us." Alistair grinned, and the King of Hell nodded.

"Leave now, and I will think this proposal over." Azazel waved his hand and the door opened wide. With a flick of his wrist, Alistair was thrown out of the throne room by a ball of fire; the doors slamming shut after the Torturer of Hell flew from the hall.

Azazel sat there, listening to the endless screams of the tortured souls above, who had recently returned after Alistair left. Azazel then looked up his eyes glowing brightly and the souls scattered.

"Alistair, you manipulative and ingenious bastard..." Azazel muttered, his gold eyes swirling with power like liquid gold.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

The monsters in the dark below were _definitely_ not humanoid. Their skin was withered and leathery, and also flaky. So basically were freaking horrible.

The creatures had a human-like form, but the tops of their heads were widened like a mushroom and their backs were at a 70o angle. The leathery skin was incredibly pale from the dim light from above Percy as he gripped upon a small out cove in the ceiling of the cavern below where the rest of the candidates for the Trials of Enoch were standing or resting, questioning the Legacy of Poseidon's current state of mind.

The monsters were goblin-like, scampering across the ground of the cavern on all fours and their beady red eyes often looking up at Percy. Rows of sharp, yellow teeth often glinted, some probably covered in chunks of flesh. Percy shivered at the thought of being eaten alive by one of them.

A faint glow at the other end of the cave caught Percy's eye. It looked like an exit to this place.

"There's a way out! These monsters are the first part of the trial to get through!" Percy shouted behind him, hoping that his fellow candidates had heard him and would follow his lead.

A pained grunt reached his ears as a number of people scrambled down to the ledges on the walls, barely managing to keep their footing. A few of the unfortunate ones completely lost their grips and plummeted down into the sea of beady red eyes.

They all continued to climb towards the light, nobody daring to knock another off or even be an idiot since their lives depended on this final trial. They slowly drew closer to the small exit in the cave wall; the monsters below began to get restless. Some scrambled up the walls while one even jumped up with the help of others and snatched a fourteen-year-old like a cherry. Percy held his breath, a small ounce of fear creeping up within him. Not a lot, but enough to offset him from the task at hand. The sword added weight to him and his fingers began to grow sweaty, adding to Percy's chance of certain death.

Percy was close enough, and took note that it was in fact a tunnel that ran on for a bit. A dim light came from the other side, making Percy somewhat suspicious to what was on the other side.

Five more antagonizing minutes passed, and Percy scrambled up and into the tunnel. The cries of goblins reached Percy's ears as more of the candidates made it into the tunnel. The air began to thicken with every step into the tunnel they took. It took some time, but soon all of the remaining candidates got into the tunnel. This, however, did not stop the strange creatures from climbing the walls and attacking those at the back.

"Run for it!" A kid cried out, and it was every man (or woman) for their self. Percy was thinking the exact same thing as well. Being the youngest of all of the candidates wasn't helpful, but there was one thing he was good at: holding his own. At the end of the tunnel, there was a sudden drop into what looked like a slide of ice. Without a second thought, Percy jumped onto the slide. A few girls screamed as icy needles bit into their rear ends.

The end of the slide came quickly, and Percy couldn't prepare himself for what would come next. An animalistic scream cut through the air as the candidates toppled down a steep cliff and fell a few metres. The Legacy of Poseidon landed on his shoulder, feeling it crack under the pressure of the fall. He rolled a few times before stopping, shaking the dizziness off.

A creature stopped at the end of the slide, staring down at the candidates below. Percy barely managed to get up; his entire right side was feeling like it had been crushed in a vice. It leapt down, and landed on some boy's chest. His screams were haunting as it tore open the chest with its claws, ducking its head in for a feast.

This was the first time Percy even got a good look at the monsters. They were white skinned, almost bluish, and were skinny. So skinny that they were just leathery skin and bones. A pair of red eyes looked up and met Percy's pair of sea green eyes. Percy now knew what this abomination of a monster was – a Goblin, which was a Necrophage, the souls that are abandoned and twisted through darkness. Most are just demon experiments gone wrong, but the Goblins were supposed to be extinct...

The Goblin released an animalistic growl and lunged at the Legacy of Poseidon. Percy drew his sword and raised it clumsily, blocking a swipe from the Goblin. The other Candidates were running for their lives, leaving Percy to fight the creature on his own. Percy almost dropped the sword and the creature took advantage of this mistake, knocking Percy off of his feet. Landing with a pained grunt, the Goblin now stood over Percy and snarled. Percy cried out as the creature loomed over him, and opened its mouth, ready to deal the killing blow. Acting on raw instinct, Percy thrust the sword upwards and it ran straight through the goblin. An inhuman cry escaped the Goblin along with black blood as it died, collapsing on the exhausted twelve year old.

Shoving the limp corpse off of him, Percy stood up and ran after his fellow candidates, not taking in the icy world of ice around him.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 **Hey guys! Hoped you lot enjoyed chapter 3 of this story!**

 **I'm sorry about the slightly delayed chapter, but my friends have been keeping me occupied with a mock exam on Monday. And that is also why next update will be a bit of a longer wait than that of these first three chapters due to this upcoming exam.**

 **Also, thanks for all of the reviews so far guys!**

 **Now with not much to say, I'm going to go reply to the reviews from last chapter and then go to sleep.**

 **Until next time folks!**

 **~The Prince of Souls**


	4. 4: Welcome to the Realm of Satan

The entire class of 1000 or so students stood from their stone seats, all expressions voided from their faces. They were all young, the youngest being around 8 while the oldest being twelve or thirteen. A man walked into the classroom, looking rather... happy?

Well, as happy someone could be in Hell.

He wore a smart suit and his dark grey hair was slicked back. His eyes were completely black, stripped of all humanity.

"Right class, sit your asses down!" He barked, and all sat. "We will be talking about our favourite subjects: The Nine Circles of this wonderful place! So, let's get started!" This bloke was completely insane.

"Here, we have Limbo, the First Circle of Hell. This is the place where those who died before being baptized as well as virtuous pagans who lived and died before the birth of Christ reside. Those found here are usually those poets and philosophers from the pagan world such as Virgil, Homer, Horace, Ovid, Socrates, Plato and, apparently (considering that he led the Arab armies against the Christian crusaders) the Muslim leader Saladin. Not a very nice place, but they might teach you a thing or two about the old world above us. And thankfully, this place is just outside the complex we currently stand in!"

Percy Jackson sat in his seat, fidgeting. The 8-year-old could never cope with these lectures.

"Next, we have the place where all those lusty bastards go! The Second Circle is just the place where the sinners who are guilty of the sin of lust are confided. This place is not very charming, especially since all the souls down there are blown about in a violent storm without hope of rest. Right below in the Third, we have those greedy pigs that can't get enough of anything – especially the food. These suckers are condemned to eat vile filth for all eternity." He took a breath before continuing. Percy was really bored.

"The Fourth Circle is reserved for those who are guilty of avarice and prodigality, AKA spendthrifts. Their punishment is to knock great rocks together eternally – _fun stuff!_ " This lecturer was going to have a painful end, just like the last six. "The pricks guilty of wrath and sullenness are sentenced to the Fifth Circle, where they spend all eternity suffering for their sins. The angry ones eternally fight each other on the surface of the River Styx from the Pit of Chaos and Tartarus above, while the sullen one's gurgle beneath the waters. Now that is an awesome punishment!"

"We next have the boring three, which are Heresy, Violence and Fraud. The heretics are trapped in flaming tombs – a classic if you ask me. The violent people in the Seventh have a reservation booked for the rest of time for those who are guilty of violence, whether it is against themselves, property, nature, or other people. Here, the sodomites, the suicides, the usurers, and blasphemers are tormented also, adding a little fun. And then the Eighth Circle, where the thieves, liars, cheaters, sorcerers and false prophets are chucked."

"And lastly, we have the Ninth Circle for the worst of the worst: Treachery. Those who have betrayed a special relationship in committing their crimes are condemned to the lowest and most horrific level. And the three greatest betrayals in history: Judas, Brutus, and Cassius are at the very centre of hell, in the ever-devouring mouths of Satan. This dude, well, we should talk about his past. After crashing into the Southern Hemisphere during Lucifer's fall, the South Pacific Ocean to be specific, he just sunk into a pit and continued to fall into the Circles of Hell until he reached the Ninth. Once beautiful, the only demons to have seen him are his Wives, such as Lilith. He is rumoured to be the size of most of the Ninth, so don't take a trip. He might snack on you or just freeze you to death."

Everyone seemed relieved when the explanation was over. "Class over!" The lecturer declared. Ten minutes later, he was hanging from a Pike up his rear end over the Second Circle as the winds stretched the wound in his backside.

Basically, the class had fun with their douche-bag teacher.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

The Ninth Circle was cold. It was one way to describe the place. There was weird and scary as well, but Percy thought that all of Hell was weird. The Ninth Circle was bluish all over from what Percy could so far tell, but was also very dark and gloomy.

He had met back up with the other candidates around half an hour beforehand, and the distant screams of the goblins haunted them all.

 _ **BOOM!**_

The loud crash alerted everyone, and they all began to look around and ready to bolt it if worst came to worst. The Legacy of Poseidon walked a bit away from the other candidates. He could feel his skin crawling, as if something sinister was nearby. It was a sensation he recognized from being close to the demon Azazel, but this was different. It felt as if the darkness causing this was inside of him.

 _Perseus..._ A weak, strangled voice called out. Percy's head shot up as his eyes darted around the icy caves of the one of the darkest pits of Hell. _Come to me..._ Percy gritted his teeth as the voice spoke once more, raising his hand to his head. He had to focus. But the voice brought upon a pounding sensation within his head. _The Blood of the Last Child will free me..._ It whispered, ice swirling around Percy, causing him to shiver involuntarily.

" _What...?_ " Percy managed through his chattering teeth.

 _Come to me, child! Allow the Sword to rise once more..._

Percy collapsed to his knees, the power too much. The voice was prodding into his mind, filling his head with images. A dark-haired woman with sea green eyes looking over him as he lay in a crib.

 _I have answers... A way out! Take me with you, as I choose you as my owner..._

"Who are you?" Percy hissed out weakly a few candidates came running over to him to help their fellow candidate out.

 _The Last Trial of Enoch, the last remnant of the forgotten deity Enoch himself... the Sword of Enoch is; and Perseus Jackson, the son of Sally Jackson, daughter of Poseidon, and also the Last Enochian Born is my last wielder..._

Percy was just confused. How could this sword know so much of Percy's childhood before Hell? Nobody knew other than the Demons who trained them, but refused to let on.

 _The Blood of Cain is strong in you... You have a dark road to travel... Follow my voice, and claim me as your own!_

The voice died down, the iciness that came with it disappearing as well.

But when he awoke, there was only screams of pain and people rushing around. Quickly springing to his feet, Percy thought that there were more Goblins. But it was different. Some of the candidates had an aura of darkness and was slaughtering a number of their candidates.

Believing that is the voice from earlier, Percy drew his sword and hacked down a candidate with ease. Black blood cascaded down upon him as the limp body collapsed to the icy ground, the two body halves twitching occasionally as the floor was stained red.

A candidate turned to Percy, eyes glowing bright red. Malice swirled within them, causing Percy to shiver right down to the core. What was going on?

The boy charged Percy, only to get cut in half by a 15-year-old girl. She beckoned Percy to follow as many of the Candidates turned on each other. Percy slashed the back of one of the turned open, causing her to scream out in agony as her spinal cord was split vertically. The once blue cave was soon painted red with the blood of those turned by some form of Black Magic within the Ninth Circle.

Percy and the remaining candidates stood among the dead bodies of their allies. A sudden roar shook the entire cave, causing a few candidates to topple over. The roar was followed by an intense gust of icy cold wind knocking the candidates back. With haste, they picked themselves up and followed the path ahead of them. The cries of goblins were far behind them, meaning that they were safe for a short while. The tunnel stretched out a further few hundred miles before opening out into a large ledge overlooking a massive cliff. Shards of ice littered the ground as more icy wind curled around them.

The tunnel had just stopped before shooting upwards into the darkness. An icy canopy was in the distance, and the space they were in seemed to stretch out for an eternity. But it didn't. In what looked to be the centre of the enormous cavern, was a haunting figure. Whatever it was, it was as large as the cavern.

They had made it – the Ninth Circle of Hell. This was actually it – the Prison of Satan, and in the centre was the fallen Archangel himself.

"Let's get this over with. Better avoid the big dude though." A voice announced from the crowd. And with that, the remaining few hundred candidates made their way to the edge of the ledge and began their dangerous descent.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

Camp Half-Blood – the safe haven for all demigods from the Greek Pantheon. A place ridiculed with the spawn of the gods. But this place wasn't as humble as it is believed to be. Many carry a distaste towards their godly parent, are hunted daily by monsters looking for a snack and most of them are also unclaimed by their godly parent because they "slipped through the cracks" or their parent is a Minor God.

Lucas Castellan (better known as Luke) was one of those unclaimed. Everyone including himself knew that his father was Hermes, the Olympian God and Messenger of the Gods, but the god simply didn't claim him. He had never hated his father enough to outright turn on Olympus, but he did hate them. Not many liked the Greek Gods anyway, since only the Children of Zeus get privileges.

Unlike Thalia. Gods, the name still caused his heart to clench. He would never forgive either Hades or Zeus for that dreadful night five years ago.

Hades had discovered that Zeus had broken the Big Three Oath to never have children, so he sent the Three Furies and an army of monsters after the Daughter of Zeus, Thalia. She was with Luke and a young seven-year-old known as Annabeth Chase, a Daughter of Athena. A Satyr called Grover Underwood had found them and was bringing them to camp when they were attacked by the army. Knowing who they were after, Thalia held them off while the others went to get help. Her time was short-lived as she was struck down by the army, savagely ripped apart. As she took her last breath, Zeus sent a bolt of Lightning down upon his daughter and turned her into a huge pine tree the size of what the White House would have at Christmas. This allowed a magical barrier to be placed all around camp, preventing monsters from entering camp unless allowed. Same went for mortals and other ungodly creatures, possibly including Titans. The tree is now the centre of Camp Half-Blood's defence – called Thalia's Tree, in remembrance of the Daughter of Zeus who gave up her life for the safety of the camp.

In the shadows of the forest, lingered a dark figure shrouded in well, shadows. The only feature that could be seen was his eyes. They were bright gold and swirled with corruption, power and malice. They promised pain and suffering, and they were currently following Luke's every move. "The next pawn in this game of chess." He spoke quietly to himself, reaching out a bony hand towards the Son of Hermes.

A small wisp of black smoke left the demon's hand and curled through the air, before wrapping itself around Luke's chest. Dark thoughts began to fill the mind of the demigod, false hopes of tearing down Olympus. This came alongside a devious plan for the Winter Soloist, resulting in a disastrous war between the Big Three.

With a dark grin, the shady figure melted into the darkness as a maniacal grin spread across Luke's lips. _Phase 1 is complete,_ was the demon's simple thought.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

It was dark, and it was cold. Neither one was liked by Percy, but he put up with it. This final trial would seal his fate – deciding wherever he lived or died. The trek was murderous, the number of sudden drops uncountable. The icy air bit deep into Percy, the constant gusts of wind not helping matters at all.

Frost coated the rocky terrain in a cold blanket as the group of children drew closer to the abomination that was in the middle of the deepest pit of the Ninth Circle.

They dropped down a small ledge onto a lake of ice. The lake however, wasn't exactly normal. A few good hundred meters ahead, there was a ten feet tall wall of ice. Five boys took a run over there and thought it would be a good idea to climb up the wall. It really wasn't a good idea.

One boy got to the top, and shouted out "I can see-" And those were his last words. Almost invisible blades swept him off his feet before slicing him up into miniscule particles. All that remained was blood and tiny chunks of organs and flesh. The remains covered the other boys in a sickly blanket, resulting in one of them throwing up thinking that a piece of bone had gone into his mouth. It had – and had ripped out through the back of his throat, leaving a small hole. Blood flowed from the wound as the boy collapsed and drowned in his own blood.

A few of the girls gasped in shock and moved backwards at the grim scene. Percy knew what was going to happen – that strange voice kept saying.

"We're just outside of the first of four sections of this frozen lake. After all, four, we meet Satan." The Legacy of Poseidon announced in monotone. All eyes turned to him, questioning him.

"And will we fail this task too?" A girl next to Percy snapped, folding her arms. Her name was Nancy, of Percy remembered correctly.

"And I'm the only one with an idea, which is better than jack-squat." The young boy countered. She instantly shut up to think of a remark.

"And if we all die? We don't want a repeat of last time, when a large number died!" A 16-year-old boy shouted out, a small blonde goatee under his chin.

"And what just happened! Most of us just went _insane!_ " Another girl defended Percy. Soon, all of them were arguing about wherever to go with Percy's idea. But the voice was now screeching in the Legacy's head, giving him a severe migraine.

" ** _SILENCE!_** " Percy thundered, stomping his foot onto the ground. Cracks snacked across the ice from Percy's foot and the cave all around them shook. The cracks continued to snake across the ice, the sound sinking.

"Look at what you've now done Percy!"

"RUN!" A boy shouted and they all ran for the entrance.

" _ **LEFT!**_ " The voice in his head bellowed, and Percy changed in that direction.

"Follow me or we all die!" Percy barked, kicking off to the left again.

" ** _RIGHT! LEFT! STRAIGHT AHEAD! BACK UP AND MAKE A LEFT!_** " This voice in his head was beginning to annoy Percy. With every direction the voice was growing louder and louder. The ice slowly began to collapse into a lake of pitch black water, and froze over shortly afterwards. It never occurred to him that the Ninth Circle was that cold.

It took them some time, but they soon emerged from the endless maze and onto another plane of ice.

" _ **Caína, named after the Father of Murder, Cain, who slew his brother Abel. Round one.**_ " The voice announced.

"Wait, what…?" Percy was confused, and then he realised what the ice was covered in. Heads popped out through the sheet of ice, and they were _everywhere._ All of these were traitors.

" **The Father does not wish your presence, scum.** " A man snarled from the shadows.

" _ **IT'S CAIN! RUN!**_ " Percy's eyes widened in fear.

"Who is that?" A few boys and girls whispered from inside the crowd.

"It's the Father of _bloody_ Murder." Was all Percy said, and they all began to panic.

A man darted from the shadows and Percy raised his sword high. He blocked the incoming strike from Cain and a few boys drew their makeshift weapons and helped.

"RUN!" Percy bellowed, "PRESS ON!" He kicked the Knight of Hell backwards and roared with anger. A torrent of black water erupted from the lake and caused a few of the heads in the ice to explode into a firework of brain tissue, muscles, bone and blood. The water flew through the air and hit Cain square in the face, sending him flying back.

" ** _Get him between the fourth and fifth rib on his left side!_** " The voice barked as Cain jumped back onto his two feet. Percy readied himself as the Knight of Hell charged him, and swung the sword at the last second. It connected into the left side of Cain and sliced through the flesh like a hot knife through butter. Cain collapsed, black smoke leaking from the wound.

Percy ran to catch up with the other candidates as they walked up to a massive doorway leading into darkness. A gust of icy wind reached out from inside of there and sent a chill down Percy's spine. Angry spurts of words were heard from behind as Cain seemed to stand up, the black smoke encasing his wound and sewing it up.

"Go through!" A boy yelled and they all dove through the portal as Cain picked up his weapons, glaring at Percy.

Once they had all left, Cain placed all of his weapons onto their rightful places and looks up into the darkness above. " **Father, Lucifer, they come. The boy is more than worthy of the weapon.** " The man spoke before reaching down and his fingers tracing his newest scar. In a clash of shadows, the Knight of Hell vanished into thin air.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 **So, uh, hey guys! Sorry about the delay (yeah, I took the complete piss), but a lot of stuff is constantly coming up. I had most of this written out to be honest, I just slipped off track due to recent events (not including my laptop being the biggest bastard above all else).**

 **But now here's the new chapter! So, I hope you guys enjoyed it and I would give cookies if you leave a review! (::) (::) (::) Just kidding, I can only give virtual cookies.**

 **Once again, please leave a review! I'll definitely update around Christmas time, if not you can all give me a royal kick up the arse.**

 **Until next time!**

 **~The Prince of Souls**


	5. 5: Hymn for the Damned

Lights. Bright, bright lights. Percy face-planted onto icy ground, and looked up to see a sight he had not expected at all. He and the other candidates appeared to be in an enormous gallery, glowing with light.

Chandeliers hung from the ceiling above, all alight with many candles. The walls themselves were built out of solid marble, lined with an assortment of gold, diamond, sapphire and emerald. The floor was polished and many people were bustling in the room, talking amongst themselves. Massive doors were open on the far side of the gallery, revealing the night sky, a beautiful city and an enormous wooden horse.

"Troy..." Was all he said, looking around the place.

" _ **Correct, Perseus. Slay Antenor, only then may you leave Antenora. But be warned...**_ " People stated to collapse from drunkenness as the voice spoke to Percy. " _ **You have little time. And only his beating heart can open the portal.**_ "

"We seem to be in Troy, right? So do we help the Greeks or something?" A boy asked, as the remaining Candidates all stood in the corner of the gallery.

"No. Something tells me that it's the opposite. We find someone. What was the Second Round of the Ninth called again?" Percy asked the other candidates.

"Antenora, right?" Some girl asked, only a few months older than Percy.

"Okay then, we slay Antenor like we beat Cain, right?" Some boy suggested, and Percy nodded in confirmation.

"Now give me a boost boys, I'll see if I can see our knight in shining armour." He said, and a few of the boys reluctantly agreed and one hoisted Percy up on his shoulders.

The candidate scanned the population within the gallery, and saw someone who seemed to be King Priam of Troy. Where were Hector, Paris and Helen? Then the pieces seemed to fall into place. The Sack of Troy.

Vigorously he looked around until a man stood out from the crowd, basked in a red glow. _Antenor,_ He thought. After being let down, he pointed into the opposite direction of Antenor. He couldn't risk them killing him and they being slaughtered if the Greeks run out of the horse. Neither could he tell Priam, because he would be accused of something preposterous.

Planning was taking forever as Percy made his way over to Antenor, and tightly clutched his sword. Before he could get into range, a battle cry was heard from outside of the gallery. The Trojans scrambled for safety but Percy wrapped his arm around Antenor's throat to hold him back.

" ** _Now is time for the hard part: the Portal. It's the horse._** " The voice said bluntly, and Percy's eyes widened before cursing in ancient tongue.

Antenor continued to struggle and Percy raised his sword slightly. This stopped him. Bodies began to fall as the Greek army slaughtered the Trojan people, ensuring that every last male would succumb to death, the females for bed later on into the night.

The candidates all looked around as chaos broke out, confused. They saw Percy holding a man with his sword in hand.

"Are you in league with them or something?" A boy asked, drawing a weapon to cut Percy down.

"Antentor is needed alive to get out of here. And all you lot want is to kill. We need to be smart, not idiotic." Percy sneered, taking a step away from some of the candidates. "Now the portal is somewhere around the Trojan Horse, and I'm leaving with or without you lot. History always repeats itself anyway: All inhabitants of Troy shall die." And with that, the boy dragged the frightened man off, towards the Trojan horse where the Greek army was climbing down.

"Bloody Hell." A boy muttered and he, along with a small group, ran after Percy. While he wasn't as trusty as the others, the child was one thing: Smart. He somehow was able to navigate the Ninth Circle effortlessly, despite the fact that he was (to be as blunt as possible) dumb. He couldn't even read for crying out loud! After a few moments of frantic thinking, most went with Percy while two of the older ones thought of their own wisecracking ideas.

At this present moment in time, Percy was sneaking through the slaughtered Trojans and Greeks. The Horse was around 100 metres away, and this was the obvious time for him to get caught and killed... More than once or twice, and his corpse burnt and head rammed onto a pike.

With one arm still wrapped around Antenor's throat, he scurried across the burning streets, the group of candidates following behind him. They soon reached the bottom of the Trojan Horse, a rope ladder running up the horse and into a trap door above. Cursing slightly, Percy sheathed his sword and began his climb, some boy called Robbie helping him carry the heavy body of Antenor up the ladder.

"There!" A Greek soldier called out as he noticed the group climbing the ladder.

Percy hauled the body into the horse, and everyone continued to run up into it. Soon the Greeks were almost at the top of the ladder, and Percy cut the ladder down. With a scream and a sickening crunch, twenty soldiers plummeted to their deaths.

" ** _The head of the horse, Perseus._** " The voice called into Percy's head, and he looked up the wooden ladder ahead of them. He ran for it and clambered up it.

"Get Antenor up here, I think we've found our ticket out of here." Percy called down as he saw a alter in the middle of the head that glowed a deep blue colour. They did, and Percy placed the traitor to Troy on the alter, who began babbling nonsense in Greek.

"Shut it, Trojan. This is your resting ground." Percy snarled.

" ** _Slice open his chest but don't kill him. Then remove the heart and throw it at the portal. You shall have sixty seconds._** " The voice told Percy.

"Who has a knife?" Percy asked, and a girl passed him a small penknife, obviously brought during their time up above on Earth.

"What do you plan to-" The girl was about to ask, but Percy sliced off Antenor's toga and slipped the blade into the flesh of the man. He screamed loudly and blood leaked through the wound, but Percy continued on with his work until the skin was removed. Antenor soon began to fit and go into shock.

Not thinking, Percy plunged his hand into the body and ripped out the bloody organ. With all his might, the twelve year old hurled the heart at the portal opening. A loud roar was heard and the portal cracked open, and an explosion rocketed the horse, sending Percy flying into the rear end of the horse. The Greeks were apparently shooting arrows of fire at the horse in an attempt to bring them down.

His ears were ringing as the other candidates ran through the portal. Still in a daze, Percy could hardly stand, let alone walk. A groan was heard from the horse and it suddenly jolted, a massive plank of wood collapsing and swiping Percy's legs out from underneath him.

Crawling across the wooden floor, he barely made it back to the burning ladder. He climbed it, ignoring the burning sensation of his hands. It took time, but shouts of Greek could be heard from the outside. The portal was glowing bright red.

" ** _You disappoint me, Perseus. This is where you fall. I wonder what your mother would think._** " A dark voice echoed from inside of Percy's head. It was ancient, like that other voice. But this one was evil. Like it wanted him deader than dead.

"Shut... up..." Percy weakly managed as he dragged himself across the burning wood.

" _ **Artemis would be disappointed, would she not? Probably can't wait till someone takes her.**_ "

These words; they were sore. He felt like he had to impress the Moon goddess. He felt some strange pulling sensation towards her. It was as if she meant more to him than these trials. And those words angered him. She was _his_.

With a sudden burst of adrenaline, Percy got onto his knees and lunged, narrowly making it through the portal as the horse collapsed.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

More gold was definitely not what Percy wanted to wake up to. If he was back in Troy, he would definitely go all-out psycho.

The boy sat up and looked around clueless, trying to gather his bearings. He was in a gold hall, and voices were approaching him. Desperate, he shuffled backwards and huddled into a small concave-shaped gap in the wall. The voices passed by, talking in Arabic. Percy only heard 'Ptolemy' mentioned, and something bad instantly sprung to his mind. In seconds, Percy was out of his hiding place and ran down the hall.

The palace was like a maze he couldn't deny that. But he soon appeared in front of some kind of abattoir. He walked in, hoping that it would get him out of the palace, because it wouldn't be good if this was the Ptolemy whom was the Son of Abubus - the Israeli governor who got his father-in-law and two of three brother-in-law's murdered during a banquet.

The abattoir made Percy forget all else that truly mattered at the present moment. It was sickening. Humans were strung up by large hooks through the back of their throats. Some were skinned half-way, while some were hanging from their ankles as their throats are slashed. One was still screaming, she couldn't have been older than Percy. Next to her was a boy with his legs missing, blood still dripping from the wounds. Something was familiar about this boy...

He was one of the Candidates!

Taken back, Percy fell into a body with its guts hanging out all over the place. That caused Percy to throw up. Then voices could be heard from afar, as if through a wall. He ran towards it and walked through a door into what must have been a kitchen. The men and women working here all turned to the intruder. A man grabbed a meat cleaver and charged Percy. Drawing his sword, the man was headless in seconds.

"Allah hu Akbar!" Another man shouted before Percy cut his head off. The kitchen staff all ran at Percy with anything they could find.

"ENOUGH!" Percy roared. A massive blast of energy erupted from the young boy, rendering all of the men and women to ash. It took what energy that was left in him out, resulting in him almost collapsing to the floor. As quick as he could, Percy griped onto the marble kitchen top and used it to support him as he navigated the enormous room. He soon made his way through a set of double doors, where he walked into a dining hall. There, were what was left of the candidates at a dinner table littered with food. At the head of the table was a man and women, smiling down at Percy.

"Ptolemy..." Percy snarled. Some dropped their food to look at Percy, while a few continued shovelling the food from the banquet down their throats. "Don't eat! Its human!" Those words caused one or two of them to spit out their half-chewed mouthfuls.

"Ah, so Perseus Jackson turns up after all. They thought you died back in the horse. Which you should've." Ptolemy said darkly, taking a sip from a glass of wine. He was a large man, well built. He had a freshly trimmed beard and hair. His eyes were a dark brown, almost black in colour.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you now, scum. You killed your own father in law along with two of your brothers-in-law." Percy growled, raising his sword weakly.

"I am the Son of Abubus, fool. I am the most powerful governor in all of Israel! And you are some weak cretin who can barely hold his own sword!" Ptolemy announced, standing up.

A boy stood, drawing a make-ship hatchet. "But I can fight." A few followed him, saying that could fight as well.

"GUARDS!" Ptolemy bellowed, and the doors were smashed open behind Percy, causing him to dive forward under the table. "Then these will keep you entertained." The governor then ran like a bat out of Hell out of the dining hall along with his wife.

Where Percy once stood were what seemed to be an entire army dressed in heavy armour, all weapons poised at the candidates. They all ran, picking up the enormous table and flipping it on its side. The candidates all dragged it across the marble floor of the dining hall to the other end, where they pressed it up against the door Ptolemy and his wife had just run out of.

The candidates charged through the door as a large battle axe slid through the table top like a hot knife through butter. They entered a hallway, where at the end stood Ptolemy with his wife, before a portal.

"Perseus!" He calls out, drawing a massive sword. "Come and fight me. I promise that on my defeat I will grant you and your friends passage."

Percy stood there, thinking about the choice he had just been given. He would have to fight this man in his weakened state, but also knowing full-damn-well that Israeli men (and women) all serve in the army especially during this period. And knowing Percy's luck, this man was trained in the art of the assassins. But he had no choice in reality. Fight and die with dignity, or die slowly and as a coward. It was quite the obvious choice really.

"No." Percy snarled, holding the hilt of his sword tightly.

"No?" Ptolemy questioned, a murderous glint in his eyes.

"If I wanted to die with dignity, I would die on a battlefield fighting for my people. You have no dignity. There are eight weapons on you at this moment, not including your sword." Percy snapped, drawing his sword.

"Care to show me where?"

"On your forearms, ankles and opposite sides of your stomach. Don't take me for an idiot."

"That's six, you fool."

"Really? Well, I didn't think you would want me to disclose the blade you keep on your tongue and the axe you keep stuck to your back under loose flesh." Percy bit back, throwing his sword to the floor. "So I suggest we loose our weapons and fight like men."

" _ **Good boy Perce, following that bloodlust. Can't say that I blame you though, the blood running across your fingertips is always pleasurable, like intercourse.**_ " The same dark voice from earlier spoke up, a headache erupting in his head.

" _Shut... UP!_ " Percy hissed as Ptolemy dropped all of his weapons to the floor.

"Then let's get this over with. Allah will claim your soul and toss you into oblivion." Ptolemy cracked his bones as he stepped forward.

"Oh, do you mean Hell? Sorry pal, been there already. It's a pretty charming place if you consider that there are many people to talk to and that. Well, except for the fact that we're in Hell." Percy shrugged effortlessly and ran forward. The governor of Israel was shocked as Percy said that and was quickly kicked down to the floor. "And Allah can kiss my arse."

Ptolemy kicked Percy's legs out from under him, using this momentum to get himself back onto his feet. He swiftly punched the twelve-year-old in the side a few times, breaking some of his already cracked ribs. In a fit of rage, Percy swung around and knocked the enormous man backwards and picked himself up. Ptolemy ran at the young boy and jumped high into the air, probably above five-feet high. He delivered a brutal kick to Percy's chest with a sickening crunch, rendering the boy to a crumpled mess on the floor. He was now desperate – he had to win.

Remembering the knife up his sleeve, Percy stood to his full height. "That all you've got? You Israelis are pure weak." He taunted, and Ptolemy's eyes darkened.

"Allah hu Akbar!" Ptolemy bellowed as he charged Percy, fist drawn back to kill the pest before him. In a second, Percy flipped the knife out and moved to the side, sliding the blade deep into Ptolemy's chest. He pushed against the man's body weight and slammed him down onto the floor with all of his strength, cracking the marble floor beneath. Most of the candidates were in shock; where had this boy become so powerful?

The boy simply stood up and kicked the dead man off of his knife and walked back, picking up his sword and sheathing it.

Ptolemy's wife stared at Percy in fear, her dark eyes glimmering. "GUARDS!" She bellowed, and the door at the other end of the hall burst open, revealing the Israeli army. Spears were thrown, most missing their targets but a large portion of the candidates were cut down by the army as they ran in the direction of the portal.

"Why isn't it opening...?" Percy asked as he kicked the frame of the portal. They couldn't die here. They just couldn't. "WORK BASTARD!" Percy bellowed, drawing his bloody knife and thrusting it into the portal frame. It roared and came to life, and the boy jumped through without a second thought. Many of them jumped through, but some fell through to the other side dead, spears protruding out from their limp corpses.

Percy's stomach clenched at the sight, turning away from the dead bodies piling up. As he did, he took in the Fourth Round of the Ninth Circle. It looked a lot like the maze from when they began their trek towards Cain.

"Surely this won't be hard fellas." A boy smugly strutted forwards, only to get crushed by a enormous hammer sweeping across the corridor. At the far side, probably around 100 metres away, was the exit displayed in a bright white doorway. But, it was obviously lined with traps.

The floor once more was thick ice, a few heads here and there trapped in the ice, mid-scream. The images were haunting.

A man shimmered into existence before Percy. He was around 6ft tall, and had dark, shaggy hair. His beard was unkempt, and his brown eyes held passion, but also regret.

"Perseus Jackson..." He said as he looked at Percy, transfixed. "I am Judas Iscariot, a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, son of God. I am your guide for the Fourth Round of the Ninth, and the only help you will get. Listening to me is the only way you will get through this circle, so listen to everything I say carefully. Satan is through that doorway over there. I will not ask of you to follow, but stay here and the goblins may catch up. They see through these mere illusions and you will be their snack. So make haste friends."

"Judas... Why should we trust you?" Percy asked.

Judas looked at the young boy. "You must know when to trust me and when not to. These four Rounds were all to test if you are worthy of meeting Lucifer and completing your task. Caína, Round One: your fighting skills against Cain. Antenora, Round 2: your hunting skills and stealth skills. Ptolomaea, Round Three: cope with treachery and be able to betray, and know the exact right moment to. Then there's Judecca, a test to teach you when to and when not to trust those around you – which is this place. Only I am your obstacle standing before you and Satan. So follow me if you wish to survive, enemies to the Lord Christ." He explained, confusing Percy heavily (not that it was hard).

"You could've said that in a few lines, not a life story." Percy said simply, his eyes spinning from all of the information he had just been given.

"But every detail matters. Don't forget that young one." Judas crooked his head to the side, not completing understanding how he could've shortened his explanation. "Never the less, follow me candidates." Judas turned on his heel and walked down the corridor, every single trap passing through him as if he were a shade.

Percy took a few steps forward and stopped suddenly as a blade swept down from the ceiling, almost splitting him in half. "So do you help us?" Percy asked, taking a step backwards. Judas turned at that question.

"These blades will pass through you if you walk through." The man simply said, standing half-way through the corridor unbothered by all of the blood and dead corpses around him.

" ** _Ask yourself: do you trust him?_** " The voice that had guided him through a lot of the Ninth Circle finally spoke up.

"No..." Percy said quietly to himself.

" ** _Then tell him this: Judas Iscariot: I do not trust you._** "

Percy nodded his head and looked up, his swirling dark sea-green eyes meeting Judas' warm brown pair. "Judas Iscariot!" Percy began loudly. "I do not trust you at all."

The man's eyes darkened slightly. "Good." He spoke, and waved his hand. The doorway flew back until it was right before Percy.

"Walk through, Perseus. It will lead you Lucifer's prison at the centre of this lake of mass graves." Judas smiled, walking towards the group.

"Can I trust you?" Percy asked.

"I don't know, can you?" The Disciple to Jesus faced Percy.

" ** _No._** " The dark voice came back, its voice hammering the insides of Percy's head.

"Yes." Percy nodded. Judas evaporated into mist, flowing through the portal. "Come on guys, Satan awaits us." Percy gestured and walked through the portal.

The entire group moved towards the portal and walked through. The portal lead them to a cliff side overlooking a bottomless abyss to oblivion.

"Crap..." Percy paled as above them, a ledge appeared and Judas walked out onto it.

"Don't beat yourselves up." He spoke, a maniacal grin on his face. "Everyone fails the Fourth Round. Even Dante Alighieri failed." And with that, he stomped his foot and the cliff face gave way into the darkness.

It soon opened up into an enormous cavern, and a towering figure was in the centre of it. The thing was hideous.

The being was gigantic, a terrifying beast covered in ragged fur. It had three faces: the front face they saw first was red, while the other two joined above the midpoint of each shoulder. At the crown these three faces were reattached. The second face (on the right) was a pale yellow, somewhat white and the third face a dark black, like the night sky without the beauty or magnificence. The monster was waist deep in ice, and each of its six eyes appeared to be crying. Each of its six wings were beating, releasing gusts of icy cold wind as it tried to escape.

Each mouth was a man being chewed. But one stood out in the middle face: Judas. His head was being gnawed on viciously and his back was being ripped apart by Satan's claws.

The group harshly landed on the icy ground, and Percy realised that they were around the same place they started in Round One. Then it struck him as all three of the faces looked at him, removing the wailing bodies from their mouths.

" ** _Who dares enter the realm of Hell's true king...?_** " It spoke in an ancient voice, causing Percy to shake with shivers crawling up his spine. It was the same voice from before, the one that caused him pain.

" _You..._ " Percy muttered weakly, looking up at the eldest of the Archangels.

The Candidates were now in the presence of the Devil.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

 **And that's chapter 5 complete! Sorry about the slight delay, but I'm far ahead of schedule. I am however up to my neck in tests and trouble, and I used a small exclusion to sneakily write this chappie quick.**

 **Anyway guys, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! And in case I don't update until after Christmas, I have to say this:**

 **MERRY CHRISTMAS! AND AN AWESOME NEW YEARS!**

 **I'll hopefully post a chapter Christmas day as I usually do, so yeah. But keep your eyes peeled.**

 **However, there will be a small delay in chapters from now on. In January I have my mock exams, and from then until July I'm up to my neck. So yeah.**

 **That doesn't mean I'm not writing guys, I'm just being slaved away at school being bored and acing classes (hopefully anyway). So good luck to all you school kids doing exams right now, get an A*/ whatever-the-bloody-hell-your-highest-achievable-grade-is!**

 **Now, I'm off for now guys. Don't forget to leave a review, they remind me to get off my arse playing Just Cause 3, Rainbow Six: Siege & Rise of the Tomb Raider and write when I have a free schedule.**

 **Until next time!**

 **~ The Prince of Souls**


	6. 6: The Big Daddy

Percy looked up at the monstrosity in fear. This was the moment he had always dreaded: meeting the devil himself. But here he was with his fellow candidates, standing before Satan.

It was not all too pretty either, three pairs of eyes looking at the group which now only a hundred or so remained from the original thousand or so children.

Percy was pretty scared as all six eyes laid on him.

" _ **So this is the great Perseus Jackson, hmm? The one who defeated Cain single-handedly? The 'One' as he put it?**_ " All three faces spoke simultaneously.

"He is, my Lord." A voice spoke from behind the group. There, stood a man Percy couldn't recognise, but his voice Percy definitely would be able to.

The man looked to be aged towards the end of prime years; his long, black and grey hair was slicked back finely as he stood there in full battle armour. A ragged scar carried down his left eye, causing the iris and pupils to be white. The armour itself seemed to suck in the light around him and his helmet seemed to be the face of horrific death as it was held under his right arm. There was a long five-foot sword strapped to his back, the blade curved near the tip like the Persian Scimitars and was an extremely dark green, almost black, and the hilt had numerous rubies, diamonds and lapis lazuli embedded in it. The weapon truly was beautiful, a piece of art greater than that of Leonardo da Vinci himself. In his left hand was another sword, but the blade was only short – like two feet long. It was very different from most weapons, it seemed to be a jaw bone, including the hilt. But it was hard to see which animal it was harvested from.

"Cain?" Fear laced Percy's voice as he said that name.

The man nodded, flipping his short sword in his left hand.

"But how? You melted away and stuff!" Percy's eyes were bugging as he also scrambled for his sword, ready to fight.

"You defeated a mortal host. This is my true form, as when I died." Cain simply said, taking a few steps forward and nodding his head in the direction of Lucifer.

Percy turned his attention back to the towering beast as all six eyes were fixated on him.

" _ **So, Candidates, what is your task may I ask?**_ " Lucifer asked, his eyes not leaving Percy.

"The Sword of Enoch." Percy announced.

The Devil shared a glance with Cain. "Enoch's sword can only be touched by one being without being driven to insanity. Even my son was, and resulted in him splitting into two. If so, who shall wield the blade?" Cain asked, raising his bone-sword slightly.

"Whoever reaches it first. Because they will become a Knight of Hell and join you." Percy said simply.

"You will be chucked in a suicide mission up on Earth or be chucked down here. Neither are pleasant, I'll tell you that now. So, children, how do you plan to get down there?" Cain shook his head, drawing his massive sword with his right hand.

"We fight?" A candidate stupidly suggested.

Cain's eye darkened. "If you so wish, fool." He threw the jaw bone and it ripped through the air at unbelievable speeds. With unfaultable accuracy, the blade was hilt deep in the boy's skull. The Father of Murder flicked his wrist and the blade flew over to him from the boy's skull and landed in his head, coated in crimson blood.

"What the bloody Hell was that about?! You didn't need to kill him!" Percy cried out, shocked at how effortlessly Cain had dispatched of the boy. Even worse, there was a strange glint in the Knight's eyes: the eyes of a psychopath.

"Then choose correctly, Candidates. How will you leave this place and collect the Mythical Sword of Enoch?" Cain glowered, flipping his strange short-sword/knife.

"We simply walk out of here. No more blood to be spilt." Percy held his hands up in a stop motion, and Cain grinned sadistically.

"You're not the one." He snarled, and threw his knife in Percy's direction. Time appeared to slow down as the weapon approached Percy, and his eyes widened. He moved to the side as the blade cut through the air. As it soured past Percy, he reached his hand out and grasped onto the hilt of the blade. It suddenly stopped and black energy arched out of the weapon, encasing Percy's forearm in darkness.

"What the bloody Hell are you? No mortal can control what not even God or Satan can." Cain was taken back by Percy catching his weapon in mid air, and it was almost effortless. That scared Percy.

"Then I'm not mortal, am I?" Percy grinned darkly, his eyes darkening until they were completely twelve-year-old turned to the towering being once more, no fear in his eyes. "Now, I think we all need a way down. So..." As the Devil reached down to grab Percy, his hand was sliced wide open along with his abdomen. A angelic white-blue light filled up the cavern, blinding Cain and Lucifer himself.

But not Percy.

"Go!" He thundered, and all of the Candidates looked at Percy like he was insane. But in the end, with a flick of a wrist, they all went tumbling down onto Satan's shag-carpet fur for a fun slide.

"Take your blade back." Percy snarled at Cain and threw the blade at Cain, watching with glee as it sunk into his shoulder, almost ripping his arm off. And with that, he said "Cheerio." And jumped into the hole, right after his fellow Candidates. The shadow left Percy, darting down into the abyss below.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

Gold and marble structures were built high and mighty upon this mountain among the clouds. It lingered above the Island of Manhattan, and the only known entrance to Olympus was through a service elevator in the Empire State Building.

This mountain was known as Mount Olympus, home to the Greek pagan gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo and of the liking. It was home to all immortal deities from the Greek myths, along with many shrines for fallen heroes. For example, near Zeus' temple there was a shrine to his demigod son Perseus, one of the first demigods recorded in existence.

At the highest peak of the mountain was an enormous structure built out of marble columns and each were lined with gold. This was the Olympian Council room, where all meetings took place.

Inside there were fourteen people. Enormous chairs sat men and women each 8-12 feet tall, the seats arranged in a U-shape around the edge of the room. At the centre of this U was a man and women. Both of these seats were more spectacular than the rest of the seats; the man wore a purple pin-stripe suit, most likely Gucci. He had long hair and an outgrown beard. His hair was raven black, but did have the odd grey streak in it. His eyes were a startling electric blue, both pulsing with unknown amounts of energy.

The woman next to him was most likely his wife. She wore a gown made of peacock feathers, and her long brown hair was held up in a bun by more peacock feathers.

The seated people went on, which were the Olympian Council. A smaller seat sat a man surrounded in shadows. His eyes were pitch black – evil, if not, and his skin was pale white as if he had just been dug up. He wore a ratty black cloak, and on his lap sat a black and red helmet which pulsed with darkness. In the centre of the throne room sat a young girl, only around 8 years of age. She had a stick in her left hand and poked at the burning hearth in the centre of the throne room. This young girl's eyes held power – more than all of the men and women sat in the council combined. But she refused to show it, wearing a hooded black gown over her lithe, frail form of a child.

She was Hestia, the eldest child of the Titan Kronos, a eternal maiden who lacked any contact with the outside word unlike her brethren. She was eager for a child, to hold it in her arms and watch it as it grew into an adult. One that would call her 'mummy', a distraction from her eternal life of boredom. Only would she fade when the last ember of Olympus died out. And that would not be for a long time.

The king in the Gucci suit was her youngest brother, Zeus. The outcast in the small black chair was her eldest brother, Hades. Her brother Poseidon was allowed in the council at all times because Poseidon couldn't betray; he was too loyal to be able to do that.

The throne doors opened, and a group of children slowly filed in. Hestia smiled and beckoned them over to sit at the Hearth, where they would go unnoticed by Zeus and the other Olympians. A centaur followed them in, bowing his head as all eyes turned to him as his hooves clapped against the marble floor. The gods continued the meeting as Chiron greeted Hestia quietly. They spoke briefly, and Hestia drew them all in. "My palace is open to you demigods this year. This tour will be finished tomorrow morning due to your delays of coming here."

All of the young demigods nodded. All except one.

The boy who didn't nod looked around the mid teens, 16 at the earliest, and had sandy blonde hair along with a ragged scar running through his left eye. He glared around the throne room, his eyes often returning to where they would often look: the Big Three's symbols of power: Zeus' bolt, Poseidon's Trident and Hades' Helm of Darkness.

He did, however, smile weakly at the young girl by his side. She was around 12 years old, and clung to him like cling film. She was small, only coming up to his chest. She had blonde hair tied up into a high pony tail, and in her tiny hands she fumbled with a knife and a Yankees cap.

Hestia stared at the two through the Hearth, images playing in the flames. The boy stood over the girl as she bled out, before he was clashing with a shadowed figure. The child goddess couldn't shake the image of golden eyes. But it was impossible. They were his only children; the seven of them: Hestia, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, Zeus and then Chiron. How could this boy have golden eyes? Even if it was a mere possibility.

The goddess moved through the group of demigods, and grabbed onto the boy's arm. "Lucas Castellan, you should end this path you walk. It will only have one end." Hestia pleaded, her orange eyes shining with hope that he would take heed to her words.

"What needs to be done will be done, child." He snapped at the eldest child of Kronos, and she nodded.

"Then finish your dark path. But many shall die unnecessarily due to your foolish actions." Hestia warned before returning to the other side of the Hearth, where she continued to stoke the fire as she watched through the flames as this shadowy figure looked directly at her, a pair of dark sea green eyes glaring through the fire as if they were there. They were staring at her.

" _You will not survive what comes..._ " A voice came from the eyes and then they disappeared - just like that.

This had shaken the goddess up lots. What had she just seen?

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

TIP

TAP

SMASH!

Luke Castellan ducked down low as he reached for the Helm of Darkness. Slyly, it shrunk down enough so that it could fit him and he placed it in his satchel. He then crept away from Hades' quarters during his short stay on Olympus before he visited a certain thunderhead.

In the bedroom lay Zeus, broken goblets littering the room along with some highly expensive jewellery, signifying that the King and Queen of the gods had had yet another bust up. And she had the spare bedroom or the couch. Maybe even another palace. Luke opened up a wardrobe and there rested the Master Bolt in all of its glory.

He was quick, placing a slightly smaller bolt crackling with energy in the place of the real bolt. His work done, he left and entered the Palace of Poseidon. Knowing his luck, the sea god had returned to his Palace in Atlantis.

Still, he hit the jackpot and left with all three of the Big Three's symbols of power. This would definitely spark World War III when they start throwing punches at one another, accusations of theft flying so much that none of the council would be able to withstand.

Every little piece was falling into place.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 **That's a wrap! Sorry about the short length, but if I added what I wanted to this wouldn't have been released until New Years. And I promised a Christmas update, so here it is!**

 **Anyway, as a few of you guys know I've been going through a rough patch this past year. But its slowly clearing up (ish). However, I'm saying this now: I'm a 16 year old kid, I live in England and this is the year where we take the dreadful GCSEs. January I have a bunch of mocks, and from then on I have nothing but constant revision piled on top of even more revision. This puts FanFiction at the bottom of the radar.**

 **Trust me, if there was an option where I could do this forever and flip my school the bird I would do that in a heartbeat, but I can't. I need grades to actually get somewhere in life and not scrounge off the government. Actually, fuck this talk.**

 **I hope all you guys have a wicked, legendary New Year! BUT most importantly, I wish all of you guys a Merry Christmas.**

 **Goodnight! Or good morning (which ever one you guys prefer)!**

 **Until next time fellas! Next stop: Knocking Santa's sleigh!**

 **~The Prince of Souls**

 ***Five minutes later***

 **"FUCKING SNOW DAMMIT!"**


	7. Not a chapter (sadly), but IMORTANT AN

**Sorry this isn't a chapter, but I usually promise to never do these. Like freaking ever. But shit has hit the fan literally in my personal life, and it has affected me severely. So much I cannot describe it.**

 **In case you guys didn't know, I made a deal with myself to never write in my current state (the mess that happened in A Demon's Wrath is proof of that, guys), which is a part of the reason for this long break since January. I do have the chapter half-complete, but juggling my life at this moment in time is hard as fuck to put it lightly.**

 **I also have a one-shot in the writing, and was intended for V-Day, but got delayed. After this, I will put a small extract from it on here and I'll complete it now and release it (like the soppy bastard I am) ASAP, which will be a few weeks minimum or I just leave it for the following year. And then a small segment from chapter 7 of The Demon Rites.**

 **So, as I said before guys, my personal life is a constant tale of shit that never ends. Anyway, as a sorry (eggs are welcome, tomatoes and potatoes can fuck off), you guys can enjoy these small parts of the one shot and chapter. I hope you guys enjoy them!**

 **With deep apologies,**

 _ **Soul Rebirth**_

 **Oh, and drop a review please with your responses.**

 **The Demon Writes chapter 7: An Ungodly Weapon (segment)**

It was dark. So, so dark...

Percy could barely see his hand in front of his face as the group of candidates collected themselves after their steep descent.

"Come, Perseus. I await my Champion." A whisper echoed in the air. This time, however, everyone heard it.

"What the bloody Hell was that?" A boy asked, turning to Percy.

"You've been plotting to make us fail? You're the Champion of Darkness?"

"What are you going on about?" Percy asked, backing away from the accusing voices.

"The voice, idiot!" - Beth

"It warned all of us of a traitor among our ranks getting everyone killed!" - Maximus

"Why would that be me?!" Percy argued.

"We have our proof. Now, you pay the price traitor." A deep voice came from behind Percy, and he turned around as the area they were in lit up with deep blue flames.

Everyone had their weapons aimed at the twelve year old, and he growled in anger.

"So this is how it is going to be..." He mumbled, closing his eyes. As he reopened them, they were pitch black. "Then lets dance."

Before anyone could react, Percy drew his sword and sliced upwards, splitting the boy behind him in half. Blood spewed everywhere, and he marvelled at the sight of the blood.

He wanted to see more. Taste it. Bathe in it.

The Demon Rites

Chiron stared sombrely upon the cabin councillors as they sat around the ping pong table.

"We need to be smart, not use excessive force!" a young blonde girl with stormy grey eyes shot at a dark haired, stocky girl who was slightly younger than the blonde.

"Annabeth, Clarisse, enough." Chiron spoke up.

It was a horrid day for all demigods, a three-way war brewing. All of the Big Three had their weapons stolen, and all three are launching the blame at one another. This caused a rift in Olympus, some siding with Poseidon, a minimum went to Hades while the rest remained either with Zeus or neutral in this matter.

"Annabeth has been chosen to lead a quest to retrieve all three weapons, and put a stop to whatever threat is causing Olympus to be torn apart." The centaur said, turning to the young blonde. "So who will you take, Annabeth? You leave tomorrow at latest."

The small girl looked nervously amongst the demigods. Luke was there, smiling at her weakly. He should be one of them. But there was a nagging in the back of her mind screaming NO. It left her really confused.

Luke was on her side, right? So why was she being screamed at by her instincts? These questioned flew though her mind at incredible speeds as she turned and looked at the other councillors.

Clarisse may have been good at fighting, but she was known for disliking orders. Something that may jeopardise the entire quest. Her own brother Malcom may be a good idea, but the two butted heads quite often. Selina from the Aphrodite cabin. She was very powerful for a child of a love goddess, once convincing a boy called Charles Beckendorf to build her a TONNE of jewellery. Not that he cared until he was the centre of bullying by his entire cabin. Both were really nice to her. And thinking of it, Selina would be in her debt after completing this quest. This was because another daughter of Aphrodite, Drew Tanaka, often stood up against Selina, often trying to take her role as cabin leader.

It was settled, but she was not quite sure. It felt so wrong, not taking Luke with her on her first ever quest, even when he had a tonne of experience on quests, even taking on Ladon (which was the cause of the scar that marred his face). And even more so that Thalia Grace, the daughter of Zeus who died saving Annabeth when she first arrived at camp at seven.

But that tragedy had affected Luke more, the two knowing each over well and being best friends along with a seven year old Annabeth at the time as well.

The young daughter of Athena turned to look back at Chiron, and stated the two she believed that she should complete the quest with. "I would appreciate that both Selina and Charles join me." She said hesitantly, her eyes glancing over to Luke and mouthing "sorry" to the son of Hermes.

He just looked away from her, he's eyes full of betrayal. Anger was all Luke felt at this present moment due to the 'ultimate betrayal' in his eyes.

Annabeth quickly looked away, a stinging sensation filling the back of her eyes. "Meeting dismissed. Selina, Charles and Annabeth, return tomorrow morning at sun rise to leave on your quest." Chiron announced, and all of the cabin councillors stood and left the ping pong table and went to their cabins for the time being until the dinner horn was sounded.

Luke pulled Annabeth aside as they left.

"Why...?" He snapped, his eyes burning darkly.

"I... I just think that it is a wise decision." Annabeth said meekly. She was scared of the sixteen year old before her.

"WISE?" Luke hissed, his hand gripping her wrist tightly. "I fought Ladon and survived! I think I more than qualify to be on this quest!"

"I'm sor-" Annabeth was cut off by Luke's right hand clutching her throat.

"Don't you dare say that Annabeth. I thought we were family. But you broke it." The son of Hermes released the choking daughter of Athena on the ground and left, walking over to his cabin as Annabeth cried until her cabin mates came and found her to take her back to the cabin.

The following morning, the trio left at sunrise as an angry Luke watched from afar.

 _ **LINE BREAK!**_

 ** _Here is a little piece from the V-Day One-shot (I need help with a title, so please help!) It's barely the start, but it's a fair amount:_**

There was a lot of pain. So, so much pain.

The Arai were awful creatures. Constantly coming at them as the pair of them trekked through the deepest pit known in existence: Tartarus. Not even Thanatos fancied going down there, yet here they are.

Many thoughts were swirling through his mind at this moment in time. What had driven him to not toss his girlfriend, Annabeth, up to Nico and go down there alone? Why did he allow himself to put her through this torment of both body and mind?

None of this was clear to Percy, none of it at all.

Alas, he leant on her as they trekked through the land of evil. It felt wrong, that he was the weak one in this matter. She remained strong, however.

Percy tried to shift his weight to walk on his own, but he tumbled down. A wide gash opened up on his left hand as he made contact with the jagged surface the couple walked across. This caused him to cry out in pain. Annabeth knelt down and tore off some of Percy's shirt and wrapped it around the wound. She helped her boyfriend stand and they continued their trek to wherever the Doors of Death were located.

More Arai had just attacked. Annabeth was almost blinded by a curse set by them, and Percy is plagued by numerous illusions. While they still leant on each other, Percy saw Annabeth run ahead before turning to him and telling him to end his life, or jump into the River Phlegethon head first with her. He actually felt tempted to go through with it on a few occasions, but (thankfully) never did in the end.

Many more images played through his mind as they progressed, until they came across a bottomless chasm. Annabeth had almost gone in if it was not for Percy. A weeping woman was a few hundred feet away from them, and Percy cautiously led Annabeth over to her.

The woman faced the two, her eyes blacker than night and her face weathered and haggard. She spoke Percy's full name out in a long, drawn out way as if it was poison to her lips. The name echoed throughout Tartarus, alerting all monsters and immortals alike of her audience being a vulnerable Son of Poseidon and Daughter of Athena.

She was Alkhys, the primordial goddess of Misery and could also manipulate a strange energy known as the 'Death Mist'. She spoke in a broken voice that can only be gained by constant sobbing, and they asked for the Death Mist to be given to them so they may leave Tartarus without having to face the enormous army of monsters that would surround the Doors of Death.

She gave it to them. But at the same time, she attempted to kill the pair of demigods. This drove him into a blind rage.

It awakened something Annabeth had never seen with Percy: a killer's intention. He had raised his right hand and used the Death Mist to choke the Primordial. She stumbled backwards and into the pit, screaming at the top of her lungs. A flash of satisfaction swept across his eyes, causing Annabeth to blink a few times.

She refused to believe what she had just seen. Her boyfriend's current mental state was being torn apart by the Pit. Not even she knew how long it would take until he would finally break and go completely insane.

The Primordial goddess of the Night soon turned up. She was not happy at all with Alkhys' plummet to her most definite demise. Nyx attempted to smite Percy but the couple jumped down into Chaos and landed on a small ledge which seemed to be an entrance to a dungeon, Percy forced Annabeth to close her eyes as they entered, and she could hear him gag with what he saw.

Annabeth had opened her eyes stupidly and looked around. Percy saw, and covered them up as she began to shudder. Those were some images that would last her a life time.

They had escaped. Finally. The sunlight out the House of Hades Necropolis almost blinded both Annabeth and Percy.

Back there, Percy had faced Tartarus. He was pretty much unmoving since that moment. But they were free none the less.

Nico di Angelo, a Son of Hades, spoke briefly with Percy after Annabeth explained to him that it was useless getting through to Percy. Nico had also been shut out after a few words, meaning that he was just the shell of what he once was.

 ** _LINE BREAK!_**

 ** _Since I'm feeling generous, I have two stories being planned. All of What Remains (Avengers/PJO crossover) and The Fallen God._**

 ** _Here is a small segment from the Fallen God:_**

A bit of blood never really hurts. It just smells bad and whenever you see it covering yourself, you will always enter a panic mode.

This was what Apollo felt as he woke up in Central Park.

The previous day's memories came crawling back to him like he was suffering a major hangover. The Giant War has ended, and now his father, Zeus, thought it would be a good idea to give him a punishment for telling Octavian to follow the path of his choice.

Hera, however, got away with it. Literally, she just glared at Apollo as he brought it up as he received his punishment.

What was this punishment, you might be wondering? Well, how do you punish any Immortal? You take away their immortality and chuck them in the city with the highest rate for people wanting him dead.

This hit list stretches from fellow Immortals to regular mortals (and no, maintenance money was something he wasn't going to pay for obvious reasons). And yes, monsters were included in this list. Most likely a handful of his children as well for their crappy birthday gifts.

The ex-immortal stood up and looked himself over. He was in converse, jeans and a t-shirt. Good for August, rubbish for anything else. Not to mention he was caked in a sticky, red substance that smelt like a mixture of magnesium and iron burning in acid.

Blood. Not nice - like, at all.

Apollo looked around, and could hear distant car horns honking. A hiss however, caught his ears.

He outstretched his arm and attempted to summon his bow, but nothing happened. He tried again for the same results.

He was so screwed.

Quickly thinking of his twin sister's hunting skills, he clambered up the nearest tree and hid in the mass of tangling branches as a Slytherin Dracaene slithered through the trees and stopped underneath him.

As brash as Apollo loved to be, he wasn't stupid enough to jump down and grapple with the monster.

 _ **LINE BREAK!**_

 **I hope you guys enjoyed these three segments. Jeez, those were slightly larger than I expected. But anyway, leave your thoughts for the One Shot and Fallen God in the reviews. For more details on my Avengers/PJO crossover, check my profile.**

 **Anyway, please drop a review and enjoy your night! Hope you guys all got a red envelope on the 14th of February!**

 **~The Prince of Souls**


	8. 7: An Ungodly Weapon

It was dark. So, so dark...

Percy could barely see his hand in front of his face as the group of candidates collected themselves after their steep descent.

" _ **Come, Perseus. I await my Champion.**_ " A whisper echoed in the air. This time, however, everyone heard it.

"What the bloody Hell was that?" A boy asked, turning to Percy.

"You've been plotting to make us fail? You're the Champion of Darkness?"

"What are you going on about?" Percy asked, backing away from the accusing voices.

"The voice, idiot!" - Beth

"It warned all of us of a traitor among our ranks getting everyone killed!" - Maximus

"Why would that be me?!" Percy argued.

"We have our proof. Now, you pay the price traitor." A deep voice came from behind Percy, and he turned around as the area they were in lit up with deep blue flames.

Everyone had their weapons aimed at the twelve year old, and he growled in anger.

"So this is how it is going to be..." He mumbled, closing his eyes. As he reopened them, they were pitch black. "Then lets dance."

Before anyone could react, Percy drew his sword and sliced upwards, splitting the boy behind him in half. Blood spewed everywhere, and he marvelled at the sight of the blood.

He wanted to see more. Taste it. Bathe in it.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

Chiron stared sombrely upon the cabin councillors as they sat around the ping pong table.

"We need to be smart, not use excessive force!" a young blonde girl with stormy grey eyes shot at a dark haired, stocky girl who was slightly younger than the blonde.

"Annabeth, Clarisse, enough." Chiron spoke up.

It was a horrid day for all demigods, a three-way war brewing. All of the Big Three had their weapons stolen, and all three are launching the blame at one another. This caused a rift in Olympus, some siding with Poseidon, a minimum went to Hades while the rest remained either with Zeus or neutral in this matter.

"Annabeth has been chosen to lead a quest to retrieve all three weapons, and put a stop to whatever threat is causing Olympus to be torn apart." The centaur said, turning to the young blonde. "So who will you take, Annabeth? You leave tomorrow at latest."

The small girl looked nervously amongst the demigods. Luke was there, smiling at her weakly. He should be one of them. But there was a nagging in the back of her mind screaming NO. It left her really confused.

Luke was on her side, right? So why was she being screamed at by her instincts? These questioned flew though her mind at incredible speeds as she turned and looked at the other councillors.

Clarisse may have been good at fighting, but she was known for disliking orders. Something that may jeopardise the entire quest. Her own brother Malcom may be a good idea, but the two butted heads quite often. Selina from the Aphrodite cabin. She was very powerful for a child of a love goddess, once convincing a boy called Charles Beckendorf to build her a TONNE of jewellery. Not that he cared until he was the centre of bullying by his entire cabin. Both were really nice to her. And thinking of it, Selina would be in her debt after completing this quest. This was because another daughter of Aphrodite, Drew Tanaka, often stood up against Selina, often trying to take her role as cabin leader.

It was settled, but she was not quite sure. It felt so wrong, not taking Luke with her on her first ever quest, even when he had a tonne of experience on quests, even taking on Ladon (which was the cause of the scar that marred his face). And even more so that Thalia Grace, the daughter of Zeus who died saving Annabeth when she first arrived at camp at seven.

But that tragedy had affected Luke more, the two knowing each over well and being best friends along with a seven year old Annabeth at the time as well.

The young daughter of Athena turned to look back at Chiron, and stated the two she believed that she should complete the quest with. "I would appreciate that both Selina and Charles join me." She said hesitantly, her eyes glancing over to Luke and mouthing "sorry" to the son of Hermes.

He just looked away from her, he's eyes full of betrayal. Anger was all Luke felt at this present moment due to the 'ultimate betrayal' in his eyes.

Annabeth quickly looked away, a stinging sensation filling the back of her eyes. "Meeting dismissed. Selina, Charles and Annabeth, return tomorrow morning at sun rise to leave on your quest." Chiron announced, and all of the cabin councillors stood and left the ping pong table and went to their cabins for the time being until the dinner horn was sounded.

Luke pulled Annabeth aside as they left.

"Why...?" He snapped, his eyes burning darkly.

"I... I just think that it is a wise decision." Annabeth said meekly. She was scared of the sixteen year old before her.

"WISE?" Luke hissed, his hand gripping her wrist tightly. "I fought Ladon and survived! I think I more than qualify to be on this quest!"

"I'm sor-" Annabeth was cut off by Luke's right hand clutching her throat.

"Don't you dare say that Annabeth. I thought we were family. But you broke it." The son of Hermes released the choking daughter of Athena on the ground and left, walking over to his cabin as Annabeth cried until her cabin mates came and found her to take her back to the cabin.

The following morning, the trio left at sunrise as an angry Luke watched from afar.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

It was not Sally's day. She was just told by Artemis that her child was in fact well and living. Just not on Earth.

Hell.

She couldn't comprehend why it was her son of all that were taken, but the grieving mother swiped everything off the kitchen countertop in her small apartment and cried, the piping rattling. But at the same time, it had made sense.

It was only obvious that someone had tipped off the demons of a powerful legacy in their midst, especially a extremely powerful grandson of Poseidon himself. But why not take a fully-fledged demigod? Like the daughter of Zeus she had heard of a while back, who stood against an entire army of monsters only to fall a Hero, saving her family. She sounded powerful enough as it was.

Or why not nab her at birth? A powerful and rare daughter of Poseidon could've been an infamous prize at least!

A knocking sound from the apartment door caught Sally's attention. She washed her face with a splash of tap water and willed it to dry before traveling to the front door and opening it up.

A figure stood there, draped in a black robe. A pair of beady red eyes glared at Sally shaking her to the core with fear.

She slammed the door shut and dived backwards, old camp training springing back into her. She pulled out a bronze ball-point pen and uncapped it, causing the pen to elongate into a leaf shaped, 3 foot long bronze sword. The door came flying off its hinges and flew towards the demigoddess, who hit the deck.

"Sally Jackson, you have been sentenced to death. For betraying Olympus." The figure grinned under the hood maliciously, and the mother jumped to her feet.

"And who is the one making the accusation?" Sally asked as the figure stalked down the hall. The only way out for Sally was to go through her son's room and the window.

"Me." The figure raised its hand and a blast of flames shot out. She dived to her right and into her son's bedroom, and ran for the window.

Sally slammed through the glass, and flew over the railings of the fire exit.

"Nowhere to run but death, Sally. Don't worry, its going to be very painful – just for you!" The figure's voice drew nearer and Sally began to panic and looked down. Quite a few stories, with a low chance of surviving. And staying there the chances were even lower. She wasn't sure what was going to kill her: her slipping grip or the psychopathic immortal in her son's bedroom.

The daughter of Poseidon hooked her bronze sword around one of the metal bars lining the stairwell and used it to swing herself down to the fire escape level below.

"Run demigod, run. Run all you like; I'll still end you. This is the end of the Olympian's reign." The figure mocked from above as Sally ran down the fire escape. A massive blast of energy split the entire escape in two down the middle, leaving a sizzling gap on all floors of the apartment building below Sally's apartment. She didn't stop however, and jumped the remaining storey and landed in a large dumpster. Picking herself out of the dumpster, the demigoddess ran as fast as she could. She didn't know where, but anywhere was better than her current home.

Sally couldn't recall how far she had run. But she eventually stopped and crouched down, catching her breath. She was in the middle of central park, conveniently close to a water source.

Using her ability of hydrokinesis, the daughter of Poseidon manipulated the water source to heat up into mist and used her bronze sword to reflect the sunlight into the mist to create a rainbow.

Reaching deep into her pocket, she pulled out a golden coin and tossed it into the rainbow. "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Chiron, Camp Half-Blood."

An image shimmered into existence before Sally in the mist, and the infamous Centaur and Trainer of Heroes was there talking to a young blonde girl.

"Chiron!" Sally called out, surprising the aging Centaur. He turned to see Sally through the Iris Message, and smiled warmly.

"Sally. What brings you to message me?" He inquired, clearly intrigued by her meaning of contacting him.

"I was attacked by a rouge god. I need to come back, Chiron. But I need more help than what you know of." Sally explained quickly, and Chiron put the young girl down.

"Annabeth, please go and join Luke." The aging centaur said to the girl and she nodded and ran out, her blond hair bobbing like that of a princess'. "What is this help you require, Sally?"

"Its Percy. I think I have an idea to where he is. But I cannot imagine of going there without the help of Camp." She said, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Where are you?" He asked.

"Central Park, I'll start my way to Camp immediately." Sally answered quickly, about to swipe through the mist.

"I'll come and get you, Sally. Just hold there." Chiron said, turning slightly to pick up a long bow and quiver along with a bronze cavalry sword of 6 feet.

The air began to thicken around Sally, and the temperature dropped quickly, despite the warm summer's day. She dropped her hand to her pocket and pulled out a bronze ball-point pen.

"They're here." Sally squeaked, and Chiron turned, eyes widened.

"Who, Sally. Who!?" He asked hastily.

"Hell." Was her simple reply and the message was cut off. With that, the centaur bolted through the door and turned to a pudgy man sitting in the porch wearing leopard print shorts and shirt while drinking a can of diet coke.

"TELL OLYMPUS THAT HELL HAS RISEN!" Chiron bellowed before dashing off to the borders of Camp Half-Blood, almost trampling a poor camper to death as he barrelled through the magical border manifested by the enormous, White House-sized pine tree and out onto the open road, where the ancient centaur dashed as fast as he could, the scenery around him a blur.

Some time later he had appeared at the scene, only to see a massacre. The scent of death filled the air and blood and guts caked the trees and grass like human bodies had simply exploded. Sally was unconscious in the midst of it, caked in layers of blood.

He picked her up and heard a deep growl from the shadows as he put her onto his back. Quicker than lightning, Chiron had grabbed his bow, pulled an arrow from his quiver, aimed and fired at the source of the noise, which ended with a wolfish yelp.

The Centaur galloped back to Camp and to the infirmary, only to see three figures standing there.

A number of Apollo campers rushed out and took Sally off of Chiron and brought her into the infirmary. The tallest man had dark, raven black hair and a pair of bright sea green eyes like Sally's own eyes; he wore a pair of khaki Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt along with a pair of leather sandals and a fishing cap decorated with fishing lures.

The shorter man, now known as Dionysus, was the same man Chiron had yelled to before he had left to run to Sally's aid. He was the same as before, looking a lot like a Cherub while wearing a tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt (Is this turning into a trend among the gods now?) and purple running shoes.

The woman was slightly shorter than the two males, but she looked capable of holding her own against either of them, her dark and stormy grey eyes calculating and assessing everything in her sight as her dark coloured hair curled over her shoulders and down her back. An elegant white dress was draped over her shoulders and flowed down her body, promptly meeting her forearms and mid-calf in length.

A flash occurred behind Chiron and a twelve year old girl with auburn hair and deep silver eyes wearing a silver hunting uniform had appeared next to a eighteen year old male with sky blue eyes and hair so blonde it looked almost golden and wearing Vans, blue jeans and a simple white t-shirt.

"Lord Poseidon, Lord Dionysus, Lady Athena, Lady Artemis and Lord Apollo. " Chiron bowed his head as he said their names in a formal greeting, as if each of them were above him and a lot more powerful than that of he.

Poseidon raised his hand in a motion, and Chiron lifted his head.

"What happened to her, brother?" Poseidon addressed Chiron, who froze up, glaring at Poseidon as if he had just majorly offended him.

"Never speak of that Poseidon, please." The ancient centaur barely contained himself as he spoke, surprising Poseidon slightly at Chiron's sudden hostility.

"I apologise, Chiron. But what happened to my daughter?" Poseidon asked once again and Chiron sighed deeply.

"I do not know, my lord. But Sally Iris Messaged me and told me that she had just been attacked by a traitor to Olympus, preferably a god. And then she told me something that you should only hear from her before she told me that there were demons there and that was the end of it, the message was cut off. I arrived to the area caked in blood, Sally too. It was as if many bodies had simply exploded." Chiron explained.

Athena's eyes widened at this. "Hell are taking up arms? I thought they were locked away deep below the Earth, even below Tartarus and Chaos itself." She wondered, and Artemis met her sister's eyes.

"I have met with Perseus Jackson, Sally's son. Well, whom I believe to be him anyway. Sally knows, since she was the first I've told. Anyway, at a month, he went missing, correct?" Artemis said, and Poseidon nodded.

"What does this have to do with Hell?" Athena cut across, causing Poseidon and Artemis to glare at her.

"At one month I believe that Percy was abducted by the demons and taken to Hell, where he and numerous others had undergone vigorous training to become ultimate warriors. It makes sense after the mass disappearances that have occurred over the past five years before Percy's abduction, over one and a half thousand children world-wide abducted on the night that they turn a month old." Artemis explained, and Athena's mouth formed an 'O'.

"Now that makes perfect sense. But if this is correct, we need to extract the boy from Hell, one way or another. We must act now, especially where the weapons of the Big Three are all missing." Athena said.

"Aye." Chiron nodded. "Annabeth Chase, Charles Beckendorf and Selina Beaugaurd are on a quest to retrieve the three weapons we believe are over towards the West Coast. Maybe we could ask of them to drop off at Hades' palace in the Underworld and ask if there is any disturbances." Chiron suggested.

"No." Poseidon said. "I will go and converse with my brother. Athena, I would appreciate if you accompany me due to you possibly having more knowledge of Hell and such than that of I since I do not waste life constantly reading."

Athena glared at him. "At least I value something as important as knowledge and not be a complete kelp head and believe that a brawl is the answer to everything." Athena countered.

"Here we go again..." Apollo rolled his eyes in the background, adding his tone of sarcasm into the fray that would possibly turn into a possible physical fight between the God of the Seas and Goddess of Wisdom.

Both Olympians turned to Apollo and snarled "Shut it Sunny." Artemis rolled her eyes as Apollo huffed and even Dionysus took a few steps back.

"Bird Brain." Poseidon shot back at Athena as they turned to face each other, both of their eyes gleaming with hatred.

"Barnacle Beard." Athena countered with.

"What is with all this alliteration?" Apollo asked abruptly, and Artemis kicked him in the shin.

"Make yourself useful and go into the infirmary and help out." The Huntress snapped at her younger brother, who huffed and mumbled a few jokes about Artemis. She heard a period joke and summoned her bow before pulling the string back and shooting Apollo in the back side with an arrow.

The Moon Goddess turned her attention to the arguing Olympians. "Now the two of you will travel to the Underworld to seek an audience with Hades. I will bring my Hunters to camp and we will remain here for a few weeks, it that is alright with you Chiron."

The ancient Centaur nodded his head. "Very well, milady. I will inform the campers shortly of your expected arrival."

The three gods flashed out, and Artemis had travelled to her tent. Perseus Jackson had been on her mind since she encountered him. She had no clue why, but it bothered her. Really bothered her. Artemis summoned a cloud of mist to appear before her, and pulled a golden drachma out from a pocket on her hunting parka. She flipped the coin in, and said "O' Iris, please show me Perseus Jackson, location – Hell."

A voice echoed from the mist as a faint figure shimmered into existence. The screen was black, but when the image cleared slightly she saw Percy standing over numerous dead bodies, a make-ship stone sword in his hand. Blood dripped from the boys chin as he looked around wildly, his dark sea green eyes that had shone with hope and love when Artemis had first encountered him were darkened to an almost-black colour, and it actually frightened the goddess. He was the daughter of Sally Jackson alright, the sheer amount of power rolling off of him was even felt by the Elder Archer Twin through a simple Iris Message.

"Perseus...?" She questioned meekly, refusing to believe that the innocent boy she had met beforehand had so quickly succumbed to this – a low life murderer who truly belonged in Hell.

Somehow, her voice had reached the boy even though he was in the darkest pits of Hell, and his eyes lightened to their old sea green mirth. Percy looked down, and threw the stone sword to the ground in disgust. Horror was clearly shown in his eyes as he stumbled backwards. "Artemis?" His voice was faint to Artemis, like an echo, but it still seemed to ring on forever in her mind.

The legacy of Poseidon had spat out a large wad of blood and saliva, before turning to run away.

" _ **BOY! I SMELL Y** **OU** **!**_ " A even more distant voice echoed from afar. The voice was powerful, the shear weight of the words almost caused Artemis drop to her knees.

With that, the boy ran away and some commotion was heard outside of the tent. Swiftly, Artemis swiped through the mist and leant on the small cabinet she kept in her enchanted abode. The goddess' lieutenant, Zoë Nightshade, entered the tent. She resembled a stereotypical Persian Princess, with the luxurious, silky black hair and dark, volcanic eyes that would burn like a coal in a furnace when she was angered. A silver circlet was on top of her head, symbolising her status as Artemis' second-in-command.

"Milady, art everything of norm?" Zoë asked her mistress, bowing her head slightly as she spoke.

One thing Artemis needed to teach her lieutenant: modern-day English. The goddess made a quick mental note of it.

"Yes, everything is fine Zoë." Artemis said, cocking her head at her lieutenant, curious as to why she had asked such a question. "Why wouldn't it be?" Other than just seeing someone she deemed able to save from becoming a truly despicable male succumbing to a cold-blooded murderer who deserved his fate in the deepest pit of Hell.

"Thou eyes art red, as though thee had shed tears." Zoë stated, her volcanic eyes widened slightly towards the bridge of her nose, showing worry. In her past many millennia within the Hunter's ranks, she had only ever seen Artemis cry when a huntress had died, or when one goes astray and Artemis is forced to commit a formal execution. Those were the worst times in the Hunt.

"Oh, nothing to worry yourself with, Zoë . Apollo poked me in the eye as he was pratting around as usual." Artemis waved off her lieutenant's concern. "What is it you seek anyway, my Lieutenant? I know you have come to ask me of something important."

"My apologies, Milady. The Hunt art ready to relocate as thou requested earlier. Give us thy order and we will oblige." Zoë spoke quickly, taking note of Artemis' excuse. It was not like Apollo to harm his sister at all, even if it was just poking her in the eye, since he would be currently down from his sun chariot to continuously apologise to his sister until she shoots him. Even then, she would be angry, not sad. But the huntress knew better than to question her mistress – she would be informed if it was truly necessary. She just hoped that it would not affect Artemis' state of mind, and result in something extremely painful for both Artemis and her Hunters.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

Percy was currently running. His mind flicked back to when h sensed that strange presence as he heard the thunderous roar from above. He had a suspicion as to who it was, but hoped and prayed that it wasn't Satan or Cain. But in truth, he had no idea who it was due all life forms in the Ninth Circle being unaccounted for. Well, other than Satan and his lieutenant Cain, along with any other Knights of Hell.

The halls he ran down kept their ruggedness from the caves he had previously trekked down, however the texture of the walls seemed to grow more smooth and level, as if he was entering a building of some kind. The darkness still had a toll on Percy's vision, but a minor, bluish glow gave the legacy the minimal amount of visibility. Through the worn soles of his shoes, Percy could feel the surface he was running on start to level out equally, but he still felt as if he was running down a slope.

A deep echo rumbled throughout the never-ending corridor, along with a soft _pitter-patter_ of the rubber soles from Percy's shoes against the stone floor. The deep echo... Something was following the twelve-year-old, and he really didn't want to find out. Wherever it was a lone goblin or a raging beast banished to the pit (Hell, Percy wouldn't even want to meet a new-born child down in the Ninth Circle. Who knew what it would be capable of?).

An anomaly in the flooring caused Percy to stumble and fall flat on his face, and then him rolling down the slope. Hopefully there wasn't a spike pit at the bottom, waiting for him.

All of a sudden, he felt weightless. Images passed through is train of thought. Some of them were of the silver-eyed girl he had met on Earth; his actual proper conversation with someone that he had enjoyed. Another of a young woman with dark brown hair and bright, sea green eyes looking down at him as he was laying in some form of cradle, a wide grin spread across her lips showing her pearly white teeth. Another sequence of images flashed through his mind: a city of gold and marble, braziers alit with flames giving the city a beautiful glow; Hell, the very places he had been raised burning down to the ground, and two masses of armies colliding.

Percy collided with a flat surface. A steady floor. Unmoving. Swiftly, he stood and shook off the dizziness that clouded his mind. Percy opened his eyes, and had to cover them. The halls he was now in were lit. Not at the best of its capability, but enough so Percy could make out a geometric-mosaic-like design spread across the walls and how small cauldrons, torches or braziers were alight with dull, dark blue flames. The corridor wasn't too long, a chamber at the other end of it. The chamber screamed evil, but something was drawing the Legacy of Poseidon towards it. It was his goal.

A deep clattering could be heard from behind Percy, and the boy turned. There, barrelling down the slope, came an enormous skeleton. It seemed to be around thirteen feet tall, and was a dark grey in colour. Each of the bones appeared to be held together by sinew and rotten flesh. Black mould formed around the teeth, and the creature's eye sockets were supposed to be hollow, but instead had glowing blue orbs in them, giving off an eerie glow. Around the creature's chest was where torn pieces of fabric draped, and in the centre of the un-dead beast's chest is where a black, beating heart seemed to lurk, dripping blood and a black substance that resembled tar.

"Oh..." Percy intelligibly mumbled to himself, reaching for his sword. But it wasn't there. Hadn't it occurred to him that it would've been useful? Apparently not.

The skeleton smashed its hand into Percy, who was knocked flying backwards. He seemed to have gained a few hundred metres on the creature, thankfully. He went to stand up, and a sudden pain rocketed through his left leg. He looked down at it, and almost gagged at the sight of the leg bone protruding through the skin and the thin leggings he wore, blood seeping through the wound and down his leg.

Okay, he was officially screwed now.

The skeleton-monster let out a thunderous roar and ran at Percy, shredding the ornaments as it came. The hall was quickly darkening, and a cold presence was slowly creeping up on the Legacy of Poseidon. He had to carry on. Ripping off the hem of his shirt, the boy tightly wrapped it around his upper thigh to slow down the blood loss.

 _ **SMACK!**_

Just as he tied the knot on the strip of fabric, he was kicked in the side, and a sickening crunch filled the air. Percy screamed out in pain as he landed once again, a few hundred metres ahead. The cathedral wasn't too far now, he was around half-way there. But he couldn't move as he lay on the ground, wheezing and choking, the feeling of blood filling his lungs. A sharp, stabbing pain erupted on his right side with every breath the boy took. He wouldn't survive another blow like that.

Alas, the skeleton was again running at the boy. Something wet landed on Percy. _Water,_ he thought. Something told him to concentrate, he knew not who or how. The boy bit on his tongue and closed his eyes, concentrating on any water source around him.

 _ **BOOM!**_

A torrent of water erupted from all around Percy, encasing him in a protective layer as the skeleton drew closer. He was sent hurtling through the air once again, and landed in a small puddle of water. Slowly, the pain began to weaken in both his leg and side. Looking back, Percy stood up and ran as quick as he could (which was more of a limp). His chest exploded in pain once again, but he ignored it and pressed on. He was punched directly in the back, and Percy shot forwards, crashing through two tall, dense doors. He had made it!

Groaning, Percy weakly stood up and looked around. The cathedral was in ruins, only a few walls still standing, the rest being inside of the actual cave sides or overgrown by stalagmites. Behind him, the skeleton was running once again, but also seemed to have a slight limp. Acting quickly, Percy ran up to one of the doors and began pushing it shut slowly. His chest and leg exploded in pain from the effort. The doors were both insanely heavy, but Percy had them closed in a nick of time, satisfied when he heard a loud click, signifying that the doors were locked.

The room was dimly lit, but in the centre of the room was an enormous sword driven deep into a set of stone. Slowly, Percy walked up to the sword.

" _ **Hold me...**_ " That voice! It was the same one that had guided Percy through the Trials of the Ninth so far! Was it... This sword?

Unsure, Percy wrapped both of his nimble hands around the hilt of the sword and pulled up...

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 **Yo! So, this took a bit longer to complete than expected. None the less, it's a 5K chapter. A decent size in my standards.**

 **Anyway (Christ, I say that word too much), sorry about the insane delay. My art exam popped up and it was 10 hours of torture. Adding to this, I got decent grades in my most recent examinations (like an A (1 mark from A*, which is the highest in GCSE standards) in English Literature), which led to me getting the Division: Sleeper Agent Edition (trust me, it is one kick-arse game). Not to mention more revision upon revision as my final exams build up along with college applications.**

 **I was going to release this chapter tomorrow, but I decided to stay up all night and complete it. I'm running off Rockstar and Red Bull currently, so yeah. I'm bouncing off the walls.**

 **So, once again, objects are welcome to be thrown, except rotten eggs and tomatoes since they make the most mess.**

 **As for the next chapter... Well, it WILL come, I guarantee that. But it shouldn't be until the end of April at the earliest. And from then on, no more updates until July because my exams kick in May, all the way through to the start of July.**

 **I could also list every other reason why updates are slow, but I don't want to bore everyone (and they are insanely personal, like I said in A/Ns in the previous two chapters.**

 **Alas, please leave a review! They are fun to read (in my opinion), along with some other stories in the fandom (has anyone noticed that a number of stories have been introduced to the PJO category since A Demon's Wrath has been out?).**

 **Until next time (And yes, the chapter will (hopefully) be action packed and LONG, if you guys so much as wish)!**

 **~The Prince of Souls**

 ***UPDATE: 2nd April*: A few minor errors have been fixed.**

 **P.S: Whose seen Deadpool or Batman v Superman? Deadpool is awesome if you haven't yet seen it!**

 **P.S.S: Uh, is anyone interested in beta-ing for me? Just to comb through me work from time to time, since I have a real bad habit of just clicking spell check and leaving it, not noticing any errors in spelling. If any errors do point out in U.K English (grammar, mispelled words etc.), please to tell me so I can fix these. Thanks, and a good night to all of you'se!**


	9. 8: The Right Choices

**Hey guys!**

 **Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!**

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 _The room was dimly lit, but in the centre of the room was an enormous sword driven deep into a set of stone. Slowly, Percy walked up to the sword._

 _"_ **Hold me...** _" That voice! It was the same one that had guided Percy through the Trials of the Ninth so far! Was it... This sword?_

 _Unsure, Percy wrapped both of his nimble hands around the hilt of the sword and pulled up..._

The sword didn't budge. Not at all. Again, Percy wrapped both hands around the hilt of the sword and pulled, but nothing happened. It was as if the wretched blade was laughing at him.

"Why?" He managed out, before stepping down from the rock.

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

The beast outside was still active, pounding on the gigantic doors of the Citadel.

Shallow footsteps could be heard from behind Percy. Clapping sounded, and Percy turned around. There, in all his glory, stood Leo, one of the many candidates that Percy had thought to of been killed. "So, Percy, how does it feel to not be chosen for that crappy sword?" Was his sarcastic comment.

Percy rolled his eyes. "And you are?" He questioned the hyperactive Latino. He could've sworn that this kid had an endless supply of drugs.

"Yeppo, Perse-o!" Leo commented hopping up onto the stone and wrapping both hands around the hilt of the sword, and pulling. But once again, the sword was unmoving.

The legacy of Poseidon snorted. "And still you try."

In case you were wondering; yes, Leo was still yanking at the sword unconditionally. The beast outside pounded on the doors once more, and splinters flew everywhere once more. Voices were heard from up ahead. Percy looked down the other end of the citadel, where a narrow tunnel led out of the broken structure.

Leo hopped down from the stone, and inspected Percy quickly. "Ah, so the mighty hero has lost his tooth pick? Pretty shitty if you ask me."

"Shut it." Percy raised his clenched fists slightly, preparing for a fight. It would be out-right painful, but it would be worth beating up the pyromaniac.

"Ooooooh, Percy's getting feisty. I wonder if you can now lift the sword, or you'll actually learn your place down here." Leo grinned. He was revelling in the thought of a fight with the slightly younger twelve-year-old.

"Piss off Leo." Percy growled, and around thirty or forty candidates began making their way into the citadel. "So I see the entire hunting party made it?"

"How are you alive?" A girl asked quickly, levelling her own make-ship sword at Percy's neck, even though she was around ten or twenty feet away.

"That thing outside trying to break the door down." Percy pointed behind him, where a skeletal fist broke through the dark coloured doors, whipping around aimlessly.

A few of the candidates began to back up and make their way towards the small cave system, and the skeleton seemed to leave, and walk away as it clattered its skeletal teeth in an angry manner. Percy sighed with relief as the beast was finally retreating.

"I thought everyone here died...?" Percy asked quickly, looking around at the other candidates.

"We were thrown into some dark cell before dropping down into here. Pretty rough, but we heard talk of everyone else being killed by Lucifer." Leo spoke haughtily, as if avoiding something.

"Partly true. I thought everyone had -" _**BOOM!**_

The enormous skeleton came charging into the room, the doors seeming to shatter as if weakened glass, and charged straight through the boulder holding the stone.

Percy was beyond shocked when he saw the sword clatter to the ground behind the skeleton as it ran into the opposite wall. Dust filled the dimly lit air, and Percy dived across the citadel, wrapping his left hand around the hilt of the sword. He managed to pick to dark weapon up with ease, and finally got a good look at it.

The hilt of the sword was strange, curvy but somehow fit perfectly into Percy's hands. The butt of the sword widened into some strange shape with small, serrated blades sticking up in a ball-like structure. The blade of the sword was dark, almost black in colour. The metal was icily cold, possibly due to being stuck in the Ninth Circle for an unknown amount of time. The actual blade was parted in the middle, small scaffolding made out of the same metal as the sword connecting the two separate blades until they met to form a devilish curved tip. The blade itself was curved, the outer side of the sword was smooth while the other side was jagged, like teeth. This ended with a deadly hook coming up and ending the blade with a sharp lip, while the smooth side seemed to have a large chunk removed from the blade. On the inside of this empty space were a row of serrated teeth, ending with a lip overlapping the end of the smoothened blade. A secondary , one-sided blade was connected to the top of this lip and stretched down in two convex edges, down to the hilt of the blade as some sort of hand-guard. Some of the sword seemed blunt from the stone, but the rest of it was deadly sharp.

" _ **And so he picks me up at last. Only may I be held after the stone be destroyed, for I am the Sword of Enoch, the crafted by the unregistered son of Lucifer, Enoch. I was forged with an unlikely alloy of bone from Lucifer, Adamant, and Unholy Silver, smelted in a furnace of Hellfire and cooled in the blood of innocent children.**_ " A deep voice entered Percy's head as he does a few practice swings with the sword, scaring him slightly.

"Creepy much..." Percy muttered, a deafening crack filling the air as the skeleton pulled itself from the wall. It looked worse than before, especially since all of the bone across the face was now cracked and broken, along with a few ribs, exposing the blackened heart to the icy air.

" _ **Now, FIGHT! END THE REIGN OF HELL, AND BURN THEM ALL!**_ " The voice came back roaring, causing Percy to drop to his knees. The power he felt coursing though his veins was immense. It was almost _beautiful_. It made him want to do unspeakable things, make all of his desires come true.

His eyes darkened as he stood, Percy's sea green eyes going completely black once again, and raw power rolled off of him. A sickening squelch was heard as the skeleton lumbered over to Percy. Without a doubt he had just crushed another candidate.

Unconsciously, Percy stood back up and had raised his sword. The skeleton ran, and Percy growled. It wasn't normal, even for him. It was too animalistic, evil, to be coming from the Legacy of the Sea God. Leo stood, and eyed Percy. Energy rolled off of the twelve-year-old in enormous amounts, causing the Hispanic boy to take a few steps back.

The skeleton let out a cackle through its broken teeth, and Percy vanished into the dust and debris floating through the air. No candidate could see what had happened, but all they heard was a loud crash of numerous bones hitting the floor and scattering, followed by the soft thud of Percy hitting the floor. When he emerged from the dust, it was obvious what had happened: Percy had jumped into the skeleton's ribcage and cut the heart out with the sword, the darkened heart of the skeleton in Percy's right hand.

"I think we need to go..." A few candidates suggested, all walking back into the tunnel, followed up by Percy. The Legacy's eyes slowly grew lighter until they returned to their normal state of a darker shade of sea green. He dropped the heart onto the ground, hearing the sicking squelch made as the black heart from the beast impacted onto the floor. He placed his hand on the outside of the left ventricle before smashing his foot down, a sickening crunch filling the air as the membrane was snapped and torn apart. Black blood squirted high, splattering all of Percy's right leg, his lower left leg, a few droplets of blood reaching his face.

Percy continued on walking, and held the sword in both of his hands, getting an even closer look at the craftsmanship of the wickedly sharp sword. Small pulses of dull silver energy seemed to reach through the sword, giving it a small glow. Unsure of how to conceal the sword, Percy just kept a hold of it in his left hand.

A deep groan escaped from the tunnel behind them, and Percy turned to look. At what was once dimly lit, there was now complete darkness behind them. Strange... Small amounts of debris hit Percy's arm, and his eyes widened. "RUN! THE TUNNEL'S COLLAPSING!"

That got everyone running, including Percy. Something was pushing him forward, like that he actually had a reason to continue on and finish the fight the sword had spoke of to him. Hell's bloody campaign of the Demon Rites will end by Percy's hand, and nobody else will be harmed by those beasts. They should all be condemned to the deepest, darkest Circle of Hell – the Ninth, what is almost to be the burial ground of Perseus Jackson.

Well, too bad the burial ground part wasn't going to come around... Right?

More and more small pieces of rock began slapping against Percy's back, trying to make him slow down. A small light could be seen at the end of the tunnel. The light began to grow, but the collapsing cave was now nipping at Percy's heels like a Jack-Russel would. Not that Percy knew what one of the small, rat-like dogs were.

Closer...

Closer...

 _Closer..._

Just a little bit more...

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

Annabeth Chase, Charles Beckendorf, and Selina Beauguard were successful with their quest. Even though it proved to be impossibly difficult. Hephaestus had granted his son three small pearls as a gift from Poseidon from years before, telling Charles to be careful and use them at the first sight of trouble.

Beckendorf handed both Selina and Annabeth a pearl each, and they finished their cross country quest in peace (which was incredibly strange, since battles usually occur on every demigod quest).

They arrived at Los Angeles bay, where Annabeth had received a haunting dream that her moral father, Fredrick Chase, had been kidnapped and was being held by an unknown assailant. What her quest-mates did not know was that the price she had to pay for her father – the Bolt of Zeus. Not that she was sure how she was In possession of Luke. All she had on her other than her clothing was a small rucksack given to her by Luke, who made her promise to be careful as she left camp. It was surprising to say the least, especially after Luke's violent outburst the day before the quest.

There was a dark haired woman standing on the sandy beach, a man next to her on his knees, tendrils of smoke circling around him to restrict his movement.

The woman's dark hair was fairly long, reaching just below her shoulders, and her facial features resembling that of a Greek statue: pale, breathtakingly beautiful and ageless. She was dressed in a sleeveless white gown covered in ornate silver designs, shapes that possibly were runes or alchemy symbols. Around her was a shimmering dark green aura, contrasting to her pale skin and clothing.

"Demigods. How nice of you to join us. Do you have the bolt, Daughter of Athena?" The woman asked, eyeing the man next to her. The man himself was partially handsome and middle-aged, also looking a lot like Annabeth, sharing his daughter's sandy coloured hair and athletic figure, but had a pair of intense brown eyes.

"Dad!" Annabeth cried out, and ran over to the bound man.

" _Dad?_ " Selina was taken a bit back by Annabeth's reaction to seeing the man bound by Hecate. While Charles shared Selina's concern for the fact that Annabeth's father was being held at ransom, his mind playing over and over the price for Annabeth's father. Bolt... No it couldn't be Zeus' bolt... Could it? Could Annabeth be the thief?

 _No,_ Beckendorf shook the thought away. Although he wasn't particularly fond of Annabeth due to her stuck-up personality, she wasn't a thief. She was incredibly ignorant, which had almost gotten them into a fight with a group of cyclops, which had been avoided by Selina simply charm-speaking some mortals that the cyclops were in fact kidnappers and were after them.

Annabeth had dropped her bag down and run over to her father, only to get sent back by a blast of green light. Beckendorf had picked up her bag, and peered in. A small rip had appeared around the seams inside of the bag, and a soft blue glow was emitted through this tear. It couldn't be... He ripped open the tear, revealing the bolt in all of it's glory. Selina gasped as she saw Charles holding it, and Annabeth looked up, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Charlie..." Selina said meekly, but the dark-skinned of Hephaestus shook his head.

"No, she didn't. It was very well concealed, the work of a Son of Hermes." That statement caused Annabeth's eyes to water and look down, as if she knew something.

"Goodie. Now, hand me the bolt, and Annie's father survives." The woman wiggled her finger at Beckendorf, and her form shimmered to that of a dark skinned woman, with dark, greasy hair as if she had been sweating endlessly.

"Charles! Give me the bolt, son!" The woman spoke, and Charles' bottom lip quivered. In fear, joy or sadness, he didn't know. But it wasn't her. She was dead.

None noticed, but Annabeth had crawled over to the sea. The bolt flew from Beckendorf's hands to Hecate, who then cackled. She had won!

Annabeth lunged into the waves, fully submerged in the water. Risky, she knew, but it was the only idea she had at the present moment.

Seconds later, she is thrown from the water as a man emerges from the sea. He was tall, little over six feet. His hair was raven black and unruly, and a pair of mesmerising sea green eyes that glared at Annabeth.

"A child of Athena daring to trespass into the Court of Poseidon?" He asked, walking from the water. Seconds later, Hecate turned to face the man and her eyes widened, stepping back.

"Hecate! Put my father's trident down – Now!" The man roared, a trident forming in his right hand a weighted net in his left.

"Ah, Triton! Come to save the day, sent to do daddy's work? We're fighting a war that cannot be won! Join us, and we will live forever, be respected by the world!" Hecate tried to convince the Son of Poseidon, but he simply scowled at the goddess of Witchcraft.

"I will never abandon the Court of Poseidon for any rag-tag group led by the schizophrenic, three-faced goddess." Triton snarled, levelling his golden trident at the goddess' chest.

"Schizophrenic? Me? Oh, please, the voices are kind!" Hecate sneered, hurling the bolt of Zeus at Triton.

The sea god raised a wall of water and aimed his trident high into the air, bellowing out "OLYMPIANS! I HAVE FOUND YOUR TRAITOR!"

One by one, numerous flashes appeared around the five beings. Poseidon was first, followed by the Twin Archers, then Zeus, Hephaestus, Hermes, Ares and then Athena, who was followed up by Hades himself. All of the Big Three gathered was extremely rare, especially in the mortal plains.

"Hecate!" Hades shouted, "What did we do? We were allies, you and my wife were friends!"

"And these people approached me with an offer to keep all of my children safe! Give them the respect they deserve, along with me!" Hecate argued.

"They were always welcome in my domain with any of my children when I decide to sire one! You know this!" Hades bit back.

"SILENCE!" Artemis yelled, firing an arrow at Hecate. The goddess of witchcraft was instantly in capitated, the arrow hitting her neck and exploded in a insane bolt of electricity, paralysing the goddess for a short period.

The Big Three each picked up their respectful Symbols of Power, and gave each other a nod of respect.

Hades left soon afterwards, promising to visit Olympus in given time. Triton was rewarded with respect – the only the thing the Son of Poseidon really wanted. Most gods left until only Poseidon, Artemis, Zeus, Hephaestus and Athena remained. Annabeth hugged Fredrick, who smiled at Athena. She smiled back, but he knew she didn't return his feelings towards her.

"Demigods, you have done well. As a reward, you leave with your lives. I wish you all the best in your quest." Zeus announced, before flashing away as well.

"Hephaestus." Poseidon spoke, handing the god a small sack. "Consider it a gift from me for your son aiding in getting my trident back. And children," all three demigods turned to the sea god, "Thank you all. Now, I must leave. And Athena, your daughter is welcome in the sea at any time. If any of you need solitude, call the sea and it will answer. Farewell." And with that, the humble sea god took his leave, simply walking into the depths of the Pacific Ocean.

"Well done, my daughter." Annabeth smiled at Athena's compliment, before both her and Hephaestus flashed away, leaving just Artemis.

"Can we help you, milady?" Selina asked.

"Yes, thank you." The goddess spoke quickly, the twelve-year-old goddess bending down and picking up the paralysed goddess. " I wish you all a safe journey home. Use those pearls, they way they weren't completely pointless." And with that, Artemis flashed away with Hecate.

"Annabeth..." Fredrick said, and the father and daughter shared a hug.

"Uh, you guys go back to camp. I think I'll stay here for the rest of summer, if that's alright with you Dad." Annabeth said meekly, causing Selina to smile.

"Sure. We'll inform camp as well, we can't have him get away with this." Beckendorf said, and both he and Selina threw their peals onto the ground, were they then stomped on them. They both were enveloped in a sea green bubble and began to float high into the air until they were blown away with the wind, hopefully back to Camp. At least they would get a beautiful birds-eye view of America.

Fredrick turned to Annabeth and stuck his hand out towards her. "Let's go home." He said to her.

Annabeth looked up and smiled. She was glad with her decision, It was a wise choice – the wisest of all choices she was to make.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 **Right, okay. So, I could end the chapter here on a nice note... But I'm heartless and have more planned for this chapter. So yeah, READ ON AND ENJOY!**

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

Luke cursed violently as he saw Selina and Beckendorf return. They were supposed to _die_. Hecate was just as useless as Luke had first thought. Too arrogant and had too much anger pent up inside of her.

Back to the important matters at hand, he needed to bail. Like, _now_. Otherwise, this entire mission would have been all for nothing.

Running back to his cabin, the Son of Hermes seized a duffle bag and threw in what of his clothes he could find, along with some other essentials. Checking his sword was on him, Luke slung the duffle bag over his shoulder and hastily left his cabin, and upon seeing three Apollo campers walking towards him along with Chiron, he panicked. He had been found out. He was going to be sent to the gods and killed. No!

"Hey, Luke-" One of the campers placed a hand on Luke while the other two loaded an arrow into their bows, but kept them trained to the ground. Chiron was a small way back, sorrow filling his warm, brown eyes. The camper was cut off mid-sentence, however, due to Luke drawing his sword and slicing off the poor boy's right arm off at the elbow. His pained screams filled the air as he dropped to the ground, blood spewing out from the dismembered limb.

"What the... _FUCK?!_ " One of the Apollo campers squealed, dropping the arrow and throwing up. The other camper fired an arrow at Luke, who dodged it and brought his sword down on the spewing kid's neck, decapitating him. It made Luke sick doing this, but it needed to be done.

The first kill was the worst. The truest words Luke ever heard. Breaking the last camper's bow, Luke held him hostage with his sword at the boy's throat.

"Don't move closer Chiron. Even you know you won't shoot me without hitting this camper. Admit it, old man. Olympus will fall and my new master will rise. Now let me go, or Brad here dies." The Son of Hermes inched closer to the woods.

"Where did I go wrong with you, Lucas?" The ancient Centaur asked, standing from his wheelchair to reveal his lower body being that of a snow white stallion, "You were a hero destined for great things! We can help! Please!"

"You all did this to me. Poisonous words with false promise, that's all you feed us! Olympus will pay for their mistakes with their lives!" Luke roared before making the quickest decision of his life: he dragged the sword across Brad's throat, and blood flowed out like a waterfall as the Son of Hermes turned tail and ran as fast as his legs could manage.

He soon crossed the borders, where he was met by a dark figure.

"Come quick, Lucas. We have much to do." The figure spoke haughtily, his voice conniving, as if he knew what had just transpired.

Campers breached the treeline, and both Luke and the dark figure escaped in a torrent of black smoke which crackled with harsh, crimson flames and purple lightning.

Luke Castellan was now an enemy to Camp Half-Blood and Olympus, and officially branded as a Traitor.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

The short journey back to Hell was unpleasant. Alas, they were now back in the same building where they were dropped down into the Ninth Circle. Dead bodies were everywhere – every last candidate's remains were in the room with those who survived, along with Leviathan, Astaroth and Azazel of the First Hierarchy.

"Candidates!" Azazel spoke, a deep grumble ricocheted off of the walls. "All of you entered the Ninth, but only one succeeded! Perseus, Disciple of Astaroth! Hereby, you are a chosen Champion of Hell! You shall go forth and claim victory for us!"

"Yesssssssssssssss, he ssssssshall." Leviathan slithered, a forked tongue licking the demon's parched lips.

Percy nodded in understanding and held his sword tightly.

" _ **Good.**_ " The voice in the sword spoke to Percy. " _ **Phase One is officially completed. Now, to gain the trust and respect of the Demons...**_ " The voice lingered in Percy's mind for a few more seconds before leaving. Percy smiled.

Hell was going to crumble.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 **And Chapter 8 is complete! Jeez, that didn't take as long as expected to write. Anyway, so I have closed off the first arc to this story now.**

 **I'm sorry about the lack of input into The Lightning Thief, but I hope you guy's got the gist of how everything went down through the brief description I had along with the actual book. Some changes, like Beckendorf getting the pearls from Hephaestus. I really liked using Triton, however, since I feel that he is both under-powered and used in both the books and a lot of Fan Fiction.**

 **Anyway, I'm sorry about the lack of Artemis in this chapter. But that will be made up for in the future.**

 **13 days? Jeez, I'm out doing myself here!**

 **Anyway, I decided to write this out and bail on Xbox for now, but Dark Souls 3 is out (or at least almost out), and I intend to buy it and sweat it out! :D And if you live in Britain, these last two days have been the strangest things ever. There was a bright yellow ball in the air and the sky was BLUE!**

 **THE WORLD IS ENDING!**

 **Okay, okay. I'm being stupid at the moment. As for the next chapter: I am completely clueless. It's going to have some length to it, maybe in-between this and last chapter in length. I hope to get one finished and uploaded before my exams start, but if not, it will not be until the middle of June, because of exams and all. I DO hope to reach 100 reviews though before next chapter (c'mon, it's not much to ask for).**

 **Oh, and also, for anyone interested, I kind of need a beta. Just because I'm usually bad at combing through my work, often overlooking a few mistakes here and there. If not, just point out any errors you notice (English (U.K) spelling) - it's all helpful!**

 **AND!**

 **Wait... No, that's about it, really.**

 **Hold on! I have a new story idea! (Pertemis (most likely), yeah) Still thinking about it, but do you guys want me to try something other than Pertemis? Maybe another crack at Percy/Bianca? Or I continue on my One-Shot "No Love" into a small story. These are all things running off of the top of my head. Christ, must be all that fresh air I'm suffering from... -_-**

 **Lastly, REVIEW! PLEASE! It makes writing the next chapter so much more enjoyable that I know a lot of people enjoy it!**

 **Until next time!**

 **~ The Prince of Souls**

 **P.S: Give Phoebus Artemis' "Phoebe Artemis, Vampire Huntress" a try. It is one bad-ass story that I love. And it is very... graphic in some manners, especially towards the end. Just a little warning if you do read it (But it IS T-Rated guys, don't worry). Thanks!**


	10. 9: A Deadly Alliance on the Rack

Westover Military School. Percy shivered as the icy wind nipped at his exposed skin. It was early December if he remembered correctly. He continued to lean against the tree outside of the castle-like school building, the tree entering a small forest that led to a cliff overlooking the sea. He was questioning as to why Hell were interested in this place, especially sending them to Maine of all places, especially when Hell was starting to get a bit warmer.

It had been a year and a half since Percy had succeeded in the Demon Rites and claimed his new sword. He was now 14, and boy were the hormones killing him. Especially the constant sweating and a few stray hairs appearing on his face every so often. He wasn't too sure what was more annoying. He had grown a fair amount, and had lost a lot of weight during his constant missions for Hell. His hair had reached new lengths and was now down to the middle of his back, only being held in place by a ponytail. His sea green eyes had darkened, hardly recognisable.

" _ **Where are you Jackson?!**_ " A deep, hollow voice echoed throughout Percy's mind. He hissed in pain and clutched his head lightly, hoping for the voice to shut up.

" _I'm at my post. You know, since crowds and I don't get along too well._ " Percy replied, straightening up slightly as the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow reached his ears.

" ** _Remain there for now. We think that the targets are being extracted by Demigods._** " The voice echoed, and Percy gritted his teeth.

" _Got it. Would you like ketchup or barbeque sauce with that? Or maybe a side of fries?_ " Was the boy's snarky remark.

" _ **How about two demigods, you worthless piece of s-**_ "

" _You kiss your mother with that mouth? Christ, no wonder she abandoned you for Lucifer's bed._ " Percy snickered.

" _ **WHAT?!**_ "

" _Well, I thought I saw someone who looked like you with Satan when I took the trials. Was she just your mother though, or sister, cousin, aunt as well? Maybe grandmother and wife? Christ, you have problems._ " Percy rolled his eyes, and plunged his hand into the shadows behind the tree and pulled out his sword.

" _ **I'm going to KILL -!**_ "

" _Yeah, yeah. Save it for someone who cares... Someone's coming, so get out here quickly._ " Percy said quickly.

" ** _Got it. Hold your position._** " The voice ordered.

" _No. I'm not failing a mission due to your incompetence._ " Percy remarked, before seeing a flash of silver through the treeline. " _Screw that. The Hunters are here. Get out here **NOW!**_ "

He looked around anxiously, holding his sword up ready as he heard multiple footsteps in his vicinity. A silver arrow flew by and Percy flicked his wrist, blocking the single arrow. A second arrow followed, and Percy once again blocked the arrow. He then sidestepped and grabbed a girl's arm and slammed it into the tree he was leaning against, causing her to drop the blade.

"You're meddling in the affairs of another pantheon, moon goddess. Don't make me report you to the first Hierarchy and allow them to unleash their armies upon your pathetic realm." Percy warned, switching his sword to his left hand. A girl stepped out of the trees, half of her shadowed by the tree between both of them. Percy was taken back by the twelve year old girl before him. She looked exactly the same as that girl he met four years ago, one of the first times he had been up on the mainland.

Percy lowered his sword slightly, staring at her curiously. His mind was tearing itself apart, trying to think of what he should do. Abandon his mission and help her, or end her at that exact moment. He made his decision.

"What happened to that boy I met all those years ago?" Artemis asked, stepping out from behind the trees and aging slightly, so she was the same age as Percy.

"Don't bother asking me. Bits of him are over there, all over the realms. Ones probably in your pocket Artemis." Percy spoke quickly, a stray bang of hair falling over his eyes.

A girl stepped out next to Artemis, bow drawn. She had an arrow aimed directly at Percy's jugular. "Thou dare show Milady such disrespect? Thou shalt eat the dirt she walks upon you ungrateful pig." Her head was lowered, casting a dangerous shadow over her face. She was beautiful, her skin sun kissed like she is a Persian Princess, and her hair a luscious, silky black.

"So this is your lieutenant, Artemis?" Percy asked, pointing at the silver tiara in the girl's hair. "Well, no wonder if she is. Tell me, I heard your lesbo group often have camp orgies, can I join in sometime?" Percy smiled darkly, and the girl let loose her arrow. "How rude. Does your mother tell you to reply to every man like that?"

"Silence, Perseus!" Artemis hissed, but could not stop her lieutenant from diving towards Percy. "Zoë; no!" The goddess cried out and Percy smiled as the newly dubbed "Zoë" dived at him and started punching him in a wild frenzy. Percy then kicked her off and hit her in the temple with his elbow, knowing that any strike from his sword would kill her.

Springing back up onto his feet, Artemis was upon him, grabbing him by the throat and pinning him against a tree.

"What are you playing at, Percy? Are you so desperate to die?" She growled, blinking away a stray tear in her eye. Curse her current form, her 14-year-old self was always so hormonal.

"Well, I do have my orders to kill you on sight. As does most of Hell." Percy remarked, his sea green eyes shining in the moonlight above them. Artemis slackened her grip on him slightly. "But this is my response to that. Cut me loose, and I will tell them you are severely weakened, and shall fade very shortly after our battle."

"Why?" Artemis asked. "Just why help? Why shouldn't I just kill you?" Artemis snarled, and Percy blew some hair out of his face.

" ** _Jackson, there's a Manticore here for the targets. I need your help since there's demigods here as well!_** " A mental message was sent to Percy from his companion, not that he knew his name.

" _Well I need to catch my breath right now. The Hunters are hard work._ " Percy replied, before turning to Artemis. "I told them that your Hunt are no longer a threat. Now please, cut me loose." Percy smiled at the moon goddess, who huffed and released her grip on Percy's throat. "Thanks!" He called out as he darted off.

A ginger girl walked up to Artemis and asked, "Why did you do that? He could've lied like all males do."

Artemis shrugged her shoulders at that, before answering "He's the son of a friend. It's nice to see him, nevertheless who he works for."

Back with Percy, he has stepped into the scene where three children stood up against a Manticore, who was holding two young children hostage.

One of the three demigods was a male with dark coloured hair and a scar on his upper lip. His skin was a light tan like someone who frequently visits a beach, and his eyes were a deep, ocean blue but held mirth in them like a prankster. In his right hand he held a four-foot long spear and in his left he held a net, both made of celestial bronze.

The next one was clearly the eldest of the three, being a 15 year old girl with raven coloured hair cut short. She wore a "Death to Barbie" t-shirt and wore a large bracelet on her left hand, which spanned almost a third of her forearm. In her right hand, she held a short spear that crackled with electricity.

The third was the middle child, having long, curly blonde hair that resembled that of a princess'. Her eyes were a deep stormy grey, and her skin had a tan that could only belong to a Californian girl. In her hands she held a small Celestial bronze knife and a Yankees baseball cap.

Percy watched humorously as a sixteen year-old boy with a five-foot long staff with axe heads on each end. He stood tall and well built, each of his movements leaving a blur of light. His eyes were a dark red, revealing his demonic nature. His name, if Percy remembered, was Jack Samuels, a lanky kid who survived to the end of the Demon Rites. He had cropped, dark red hair with pale white skin which was littered with freckles.

He knocked all three demigods to the ground with maximum effort, before turning his staff to the Manticore, who smiled evilly. "Hand over the children, Thorne." Jack warned the beast, and the creature laughed, swatting aside the staff.

All of a sudden silver arrows sailed through the air and few pierced the flesh of the Manticore, most bouncing off of its scaly skin. Percy turned to the tree line, growling.

"I thought you killed them, Percy?!" Jack yelled over the screams of the Manticore.

"So did I! But they had more than I had imagined!" Percy replied, and tackled the Manticore. The blonde girl suddenly appeared on the creature's back, her baseball call falling off her head.

"Annabeth!" The young boy from the three demigods yelled out, running to help his friend but it was too late, and Percy had shoved the beast over the edge of the cliff. "No!" The young boy yelled out, and tried jumping after them. Percy grabbed the demigod and threw him onto the snowy ground, before looking over the edge of the cliff. It was a long way down. They had definitely not survived the fall.

"She's gone." Percy said to the boy, heaving his sword up from the ground and resting it on his shoulder. The two demons were shot at by the Hunters, and the two targets were being pulled to safety by the punk demigoddess and a few Hunters of Artemis.

"Let's go! We have to report this to the Hierarchy!" Jack called to Percy as they tried to make a break for it. But Percy shook his head.

"No, we don't." Percy said steely, standing up straight.

"What?! Are you insane?! AHHHHHHHHH!" Jack screamed out as his limp left arm dropped to the snowy ground, staining the snow with red. Percy kicked Jack out into the open, as arrows riddled his body.

"TRAITOR! I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS, PERSEUS JACKSON!" Jack gurgled, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth as he lay on the ground, trying to pick his staff up with his remaining arm.

"Sure you will. I'm more powerful than all you bastards Jack, remember that in the next life." Percy snarled, the snow around them melting to water and raising to form a barrier before them to stop the arrows.

"Kill me then! Be done with it! I'll go back home and tell them what you've done, scumbag! Prove to us all that you have no loyalties to anybody but yourself!" Jack screamed, groaning at the pain. "DO IT YOU PUSSY!"

Percy smirked. "With pleasure." With that, he raised his sword and brought it down upon the middle of Jack's head, splitting it in half. With that, Percy spat on the bloodied corpse and walked away, the wall of ice dropping to reveal the dead body of Percy's ally.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

Artemis stands in the Big House with Chiron, Sally and Zoë.

"I still think we should quest for him, Artemis. It seems his loyalties are with someone like you, so we think it would be wise if you went looking for him along with Sally." Chiron advised, and Zo ë just sat there, her arms crossed as she wondered what she was doing there.

"He brutally murdered that boy and has further orders to put an end to my Hunt and I! Why should Sally come with me when she will most likely die?!" Artemis argued, and Sally huffed.

"It is because he is my son, Artemis! Please, I need to see him!" Sally cried out, her sea green eyes that reminded Artemis so much of Percy shining.

"And if he turns and goes psycho on us? He is mentally insecure Sally! Hell does that to people!" Artemis sneered, her silver eyes narrowed at the mother.

"Then I would've at least seen him for what he has become! Please, understand what a mother needs! I haven't seen him in over fourteen years!" Sally once again sighed.

Zoë huffed and Artemis turned to her. "Is something wrong, Lieutenant?" The goddess asked, and Zoë straightened immediately.

"No, none is of negativity, milady." Zoë replied quickly, and Artemis nodded.

"You are dismissed, Lieutenant. You will assert control of the Hunt and remain here in Camp Half-Blood while we search for Perseus Jackson." Artemis said, and Zoë nodded before taking her leave.

"We leave tomorrow then, Milady?" Sally asked Artemis, and the goddess nodded, before turning to Chiron.

"Yes, you may go my child. An unofficial quest, so please be discreet with power usage." Chiron nodded from his wheelchair, stroking his beard. "Now, get some rest the two of you. Leave early hours tomorrow, I wish you both the best of luck." The two girls nodded, and left the Big House.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

A torrent of flames jumped from the pathway, catching the edge of Alistair's cloak aflame. Said demon growled in annoyance and patted the flames out before continuing on his chosen pathway, the dusty, orange ground staining the soles of his boots and bottom of his cloak. The hood of said cloak fell down, revealing a bald headed, pale white man with a pair of soulless, inky black eyes. His teeth were filed into rows of razors as a wisp of dust flew along the top of Alistair's head before he pulled back the hood if his cloak back up. With that, he stopped walking and looked around, the almost sandstorm in the Second Circle was incredibly rare, meaning that a Hell Gate had been left open for far too long.

A few moments later, another figure appeared a flash of golden flames. Another cloaked figure stood there, standing at around 7 feet tall. His salt and pepper hair was slicked and pulled back into a ponytail, his ghastly face marred by a single scar along his jawline. He opened his eyes, revealing a pair of liquid gold eyes, swirling with eternal power. "Alistair. Nice to see yet another new host." The figure spoke, and Alistair's eyes flashed a blood red at the mention of his name.

"Nice to see you haven't changed much, my King." Alistair remarked, before looking around the place. "We're no longer in the Second Circle, are we?"

"No. We have travelled to Tartarus, to greet with a hopeful ally in our conquest." The figure answered as the sand began to die down, revealing a darkened cavern which reeked of sulphur.

"And what of Jackson?" Alistair inquired, and the man scoffed.

"The traitor killed one of our own. That sword has taken it's toll upon him. I just wish the First Hierarchy had paid heed to my warnings about the son of Lucifer's sword."

"Ah. So, who are we here to see?" Alistair inquired as they walked through the retched place.

"As I said, an ally. He will help us take down Olympus." The figure spoke cryptically until they came across a broken sarcophagus.

" ** _Do you have the demigods?_** " A deep voice echoed from the sarcophagus.

"No, Kronos. We were betrayed by the Champion of Hell known as Percy Jackson." The figure spoke, and Kronos growled.

" _ **Very well. It'll just take longer to regrow back to normal. Do we have a host candidate?**_ "

"Yes a few. But in the meantime, our spies say that there is a top secret quest tomorrow. Sally Jackson and Artemis are hunting for our dearest Champion. You know more of them, how shall we dispose of them?" The figure asked.

" _ **No.**_ " Kronos spoke, thinking carefully. " ** _Capture the two. Release my general with the help of your spies. He will be of use. The two shall lure Percy to our stronghold of Orthys where we will kill all three of them. Agreed?_** "

"Yes, Kronos. Also, we plan to restart our old program of creating the prefect weapon. We will need the help of your Pantheon however." Alistair spoke, earning a grin from the figure.

" ** _Get on with it. Farewell for now._** " With that, the two Demons left Kronos and returned to Hell.

"Are we sure we're doing the right thing here, Alistair? We failed to control them last time." The figure asked as Alistair summoned all of the failed candidates.

"I'm sure. Anyway, this is going to be fun either way." Alistair spoke as the candidates started to file into the area before Alistair.

"Get on with it then. Just don't screw up." The figure warned before leaving, and Alistair grinned.

"Now! Who's ready to hunt a traitor? Because I sure am!" Alistair cheered before chairs an straps sprung from the ground and wrapped around each of the candidates. "Let the mutations begin!" With that, the Torturer of Hell began to laugh like a maniac as he began experimenting on all of the poor children...

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

 **So, I'm back. Well, kind of. I wrote this chapter in the week off I had from school (so sorry, its kind of been on my laptop for a good 3 weeks to collect dust), but I've now finished since exams are over. But, I have to get a job *cries in corner*. But still, I'll be updating frequently. I start my new courses of psychology, sociology and A-level chemistry next September, so I'll make sure to have the Titan's Curse arc finished by the end of the summer (if you can call it that in England). That would make the story around 17 chapters long.**

 **So, ummmm... Yeah, that's about it really...**

 **Oh , I'm planning a new story! And an actual book. The book is going to be similar to this in some aspects, so yeah. Okay, so I'm sorry this chapter isn't too lengthy (I was actually expecting it to be longer, but oh well). None the less, I updated!**

 **The story I hope to publish soon, since I'm writing out a few chapters to see if it works. But if you guy's want, I can post the first chapter in advance when I next update this. It's going to be a PJO/Avengers crossover, and called Divided We Fall. Kind of ironic, especially since I first thought about it after watching Civil War.**

 **Now, quick question: Would you guys prefer the short and snappy chapters (2-3k words) or one that just tickles my fancy, varying between long and short?**

 **And without further ado, please leave a review as before you click the back button or close the tabs. It would really help me with things like motivation. Thanks! Until next time!**

 _ **~The Prince of Souls**_

P.S: Don't worry about beta-ing. I think I have it sorted for now... :)


	11. 10: Beginning of a Better Future

Artemis sharply turned to her left at the sound of a bush rustling, her bow drawn back with three arrows set to be fired. The Moon Goddess inhaled sharply and closed her eye, carefully prying two arrows from her bow and lined up the shot before letting the silver tipped arrow fly, and a monstrous cry was heard from behind the bush and the monster then exploded into golden dust, showering the forest.

She let out the breath she had been holding in, and nocked the remaining two arrows and drew the heavy bow string, ignoring the small trickle of golden ichor running down her index and middle fingers due to having a constant grip on the bow string.

"Lady Artemis." A dark figure loomed through the darkening forest, stepping on the trees as if they were nothing but insects.

" _You..._ " Artemis stammered, her liquid silver eyes widening with fear. "You're supposed to be under the sky! How is this possible?!" The usually gracefully goddess stumbled backwards, tripping and falling flat onto her rear. Her bow hit the ground and landed on the snowy ground.

The figure laughed half-heartedly, his stony grey eyes burning holes into Artemis as he took in her weak and frail form. "That young Athena spawn did the trick, my young goddess. Now, I wouldn't resist..." The figure rumbled and a stream of earth came out through the snow and snatched Artemis' bow, dragging it underground as the pre-teen goddess lunged for her most prized possession.

"You won't win! He will never raise!" Artemis spat as tendrils of earth shot up, causing the young goddess to shriek in surprise as the earthbound her arms and legs together so she was hog tied.

"Ah, my beautiful Artemis, but you are forgetting some important facts." The figure grinned, his slicked, black hair falling down over his face. "We have Hell on our side." He grinned, and Artemis' eyes widened.

"No..." She muttered, grunting as she was picked up by the 7 feet tall giant, "It was true..."

"Get used to it my goddess!" The figure grinned, turning to Artemis. "Kronos is rising along with Hell! The Olympians will fall once and for all!"

"No, we won't, Atlas." Artemis sneered, and Atlas snarled at the goddess as he slung her over his shoulder.

"Oh, you will. You will watch from Othrys."

Artemis' blood ran cold when she heard that.

The Demon Rites

The young, fourteen-year-old growled disgruntledly, throwing the evil sword he had strapped to his back away, massaging his temples.

" _ **Why do you not obey?**_ " A dark voice boomed from the inside of the boy's head, and he hissed in pain.

"Because you're a jackass. He was going to report our failure, get them killed..." Percy growled out, his sea green eyes brimming with tears.

" _ **Casualties are necessary for victory! That Moon Goddess will get us killed!**_ " The voice argued, and Percy sighed, obviously fed up.

" _NO!_ " Percy shouted, standing from the bench he was sat on. "Nobody needs to die!"

" _ **They do! Not everybody can be saved!**_ " Percy felt like a sledgehammer was being rattled around inside of his skull as the voice screamed.

"They can be saved if I try!" Percy hissed, clutching his head in pain.

" _ **Fool.**_ " The voice snapped before receding away, along with the echoing pain inside of Percy's head. The young boy sighed in relief at that. He then looked around, curious as to where he was.

It was a fairly public place, with numerous people walking around. Tourists were everywhere, snapping photos and a lot of them conversing in languages Percy couldn't understand. In the distance, an enormous white structure stood tall and proud, screaming superiority. A small itching sensation began in the back of Percy's head as if the place was of extreme danger.

He shook it off as nothing, and turned his attention back to the building 50 metres or so to his left, with a number of people walking in and out. The place was the National Museum of Natural History if he remembered correctly. And it was to be a meeting place between the Demons and the... What were they called? Racking his memory for the words, Percy eventually gave up. Either way, they didn't get along with Olympus.

A grey haired man caught Percy's attention as he walked up the steps to the museum. He turned at the last second, and Percy caught sight of his heterochromatic eyes – one blue, the other brown. And then a scorpion tail flicked out from under the man's jacket. Readying himself, Percy picked up his sword and began walking to the museum, making sure that his sword was fixed to his back.

" _ **What are you doing, Perseus?**_ " The sword asked, and Percy growled, but ignored the sword. There were more important matters at hand than the voice in his head.

The fourteen-year-old walked up the steps and slipped into the museum, looking around carefully. On the side was a scheduled off room, with two strange women standing outside. They were hideous, one leg being that of a donkey and the other being made of some magical bronze material.

"How may we help you?" One of them asked, leaving her position at the locked doors as she caught Percy staring.

"Point me in the direction of Azazel." The Champion of Hell said abruptly, and both of the monsters shared a knowing glance.

"Who?" She turned back to Percy, only to scream as Percy's sword slid through her neck, gurgling as her head flew into the air as her body disintegrated into a shower of golden dust. Raising his sword like a baseball bat, Percy hit the decapitated head mid-air and it flew, nailing the other beast in the face. She was about to scream when he ran at her, jabbing his sword with marksman accuracy at her neck, and she exploded into golden dust like her friend.

Percy quietly tested the door, but it was locked. Cursing, he knocked on the wooden doors, holding his sword ice-pick grip The door opened, and a tall, stocky cyclops stepped out, gasping in surprise when he saw the golden dust. Acting quickly, Percy pulled the cyclops down and stabbed the creature in the chest, and it dissolved into golden dust like the two vampire-like women.

Slipping into the room, Percy spotted a tall, military-like man sat in a chair, his features shrouded by shadows. Next to him stood a rather lanky 18-year-old blonde boy, his features haunting. A nasty, jagged, red scar ran down the left side of the boy's face, giving him an evil look. A leaf-shaped sword was strapped to his waist, the blade a mixture between bronze and steel.

Below them, stood an assortment of monsters around the perimeter of the small gallery they were in. Thorne was in the centre of the room, Percy remembered him from a week or so before at Westover Hall.

"Do you have the dragon teeth?" The militaristic man asked, and Azazel stepped out of the shadows from behind. "Here, General." The self-proclaimed King of Hell handed a small doggy bag over to the General, his golden eyes glowing menacingly.

The General threw them down to Thorne, who planted them in the dirt behind. Then, Alistair walked out of the shadows and down the steps, holding a watering can. The contents smelt metallic – blood. Percy's breath hitched as Alistair watered the planted dragon teeth with blood.

"No..." Percy breathed out, knowing fully what they were doing. A skeletal hand burst from the soil, a translucent, grey plasma formed over the skeleton as it raised, giving it an almost human look. Almost.

 _Spartoi._

"It appears we have a visitor." Azazel; said, looking directly at Percy.

"Bugger." Percy cursed as all eyes turned to him. He dived backwards, the doors slamming open and he ran, ignoring the fading roars of anger from the General and the cackling Spartoi.

Looking around as he ran out of the museum, he ran across the road, ignoring oncoming traffic and onto the grass, straight at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. He hoped to lose them there. As he crossed over the road, he saw a van with the words "Delphi Strawberry Service" written on the side. The van was somewhat familiar... But where?

"Think, Percy." A female said from behind him. He turned quickly, hand on his sword.

"What do you want, Astaroth?" Percy snarled, glaring at the dark haired sorcerer.

"Hell to remain alone and intact. And to do that, I must help those who are good." She spoke calmly, not fazed by Percy's threatening nature.

"That's bull, and you know it. You're a Demon, Astaroth – you only destroy." Percy answered back, peeving the demoness off slightly.

"I have agendas, yes." She shrugged, before pointing at the Air and Space Museum. "There are two Hunters of Artemis, a demigoddess and a satyr inside of there, at the food court. The Spartoi has one of their scent."

"And?" Percy asked, not caring for them.

"They need you, Percy – as you need them. If you go with them, you can meet your mother." She said, and Percy stepped back slightly.

"She's dead-"

"Her name is Sally Jackson, a Daughter of Poseidon. She lives in Manhattan, and has one child who she called Perseus Jackson, but he was kidnapped when he was one month old. She is searching for her son at the moment, who she heard is alive from Artemis." Astaroth explained, and a tear ran down Percy's cheek.

"You lie." He snapped, before walking past the demoness to the museum.

"Then why are you heading towards them, then?" She inquired, and Percy cursed.

"They need to be warned." He answered simply before leaving her, and entering the museum.

Astaroth looked over towards where Percy had just come from, and saw the Spartoi there, walking towards the Air and Space Museum. The Princess of Thrones strolled away, her form melting into the ground as she returned to Hell.

Percy reached the food court of the Museum with haste, and scanned the area quickly. Sitting at a table with three others, was a familiar Persian-like girl Percy remembered from Westover. He walked over there, pushing a strand of hair out of his eyes.

"Go away, boy." Zoë spoke haughtily, not even looking at Percy until he rested his hands on the table.

"I'm here as an ally, Huntress." Percy snapped, before crouching down. "I'm here to warn you guys to leave as well. The General was here, and he's summoned a group of Spartoi and given them one of your scents. So, you run or die."

The girl across from the Lieutenant of the Hunt huffed, crossing her arms. "And why should we trust a murderer?" He turned to the girl who spoke. She was like a punk, her raven black hair was cut short, and was wearing black clothes including a "Death to Barbie" t-shirt.

"He was going to bring a Demon horde to kill us all, so I carried out the necessary action you fool." Percy huffed in annoyance, before the fire escape doors are slammed open, revealing four Spartoi dressed in military gear, all carrying guns.

"Crap." Percy cursed, before bringing his sword out and slicing a table out of the ground. The table top flew into the air and with his other hand, Percy punched the table and it flew into the Spartoi, shattering two of them. "Go on then!" He yelled at the questers.

They didn't need telling a second time.

The five of them ran out of the opposite fire escape, and they ran back to the van with the words "Delphi Strawberry Service" printed on the side. The four of them clambered in, the satyr, Grover, left the doors open.

"Come on then!" The punk-girl yelled at Percy, who shook his head.

"I have better things to do than help with a petty quest." He shook his head and left, and the Daughter of Zeus slammed the rear doors shut and Zoë put her foot down, the van speeding off.

Percy shakes his head, and then a feral growl could be heard from nearby. Percy turned around slowly, catching sight of an enormous feline leaping over him, the giant cat's golden coat rippling from the piston-like muscles driving the wild beast forwards.

And it was going directly towards the van the questers had just escaped in.

"Bloody hell." Percy cursed, running after the two. He saw them make a left, and Percy cut across the large green between the two rows of Smithsonian Museums.

The Camp van just about to drive past when Percy leapt out, and dug his sword into the side of the van, clinging on for dear life. The overgrown lion behind the van roared thunderously, the magnificent creature's amber eyes glowing with a dangerous light which promised pain and suffering.

Thalia opened the side door and pulled Percy in causing him to leave his sword hanging in the side of the van. Thankfully, the blade hadn't hurt anything.

"Thanks." He breathed, carefully taking hold of the blade to the sword and pulled, causing it to fully tear through the camp van's side, leaving a massive hole.

"Too scared to face that thing?" Thalia joked, reading her spear as the massive beast drew closer.

"That is the Nemean Lion thou fools! Thy has never been killed since Heracles!" Zoë called out from front, and Thalia rolled her eyes.

"But we're better than that jackass!" Thalia yelled back and Percy chuckled.

"There, that abandoned train yard!" Bianca called out, pointing to a train yard as they left the city of Washington D.C.

The Lieutenant of the Hunt drove into the train yard, the Nemean Lion still hot on their tail.

"Stupid idea time! Shoot the thing when you get a shot!" Percy yelled out, before hacking off the joints that attached the rear doors to the van before kicking them, sending them hurling at the Nemean Lion.

The golden lion continued running, and roared before it leapt at them, her claws sinking into the roof of the Camp van.

Thalia punched Percy. "Very stupid idea!" She yelled, before almost falling out of the van. Grover grabbed hold of her, and Percy helped pull the Daughter of Zeus back onto her feet.

"Well, you're going to love this – a blade made of darkness cannot kill her, but can maim her." Percy grinned, before swinging directly upwards. The blade just bounced off of the creature's golden fur, but allowed for the claws to dig deeper into the van.

Zoë suddenly stopped the van, causing the lion to fly forwards, ripping the entire roof off in the process. The windscreen shattered into a number of pieces, covering both Bianca and Zoë . Percy, Grover and Thalia were all thrown against the front seats, squashed against one another.

"Get off me!" Thalia pushed Percy and Grover off of her, before slapping her bracelet and expanding her canister of mace. In replacement of these objects were a celestial bronze shield with the face of Medusa imprinted onto the face of the shield and spear which crackled with electricity.

In front of the trashed van, the Nemean Lion was struggling to get herself upright, but constantly turning to face the questers and Percy, hatred burning through her bright, golden eyes.

In the front, Bianca was peeling her face off of the dashboard of the van, her inky black hair stuck to a small gash along the top of her head. Zoë's nose was bleeding from where she had stopped too suddenly and face-planted into the steering wheel. "Run..." The Lieutenant of the Hunt croaked out as Percy shakily stood up.

The golden-furred beast was rolling from side to side, her impenetrable hide restricting her movement as if she was in a suit of kevlar.

Zoë pointed towards the end of the train yard, where a train slowed down to a stop.

Percy followed her gesture and could barely see the name of the train: "Sun West Lines".

"Come on then!" Percy carefully pulled Zoë out of the drivers seat and passed her to Thalia, while he then helped Grover get Bianca from the passenger side of the car.

"Percy!" Grover called out in surprise as a burning sensation hacked its way down Percy's back, splitting open the flesh. He cried out in pain and was forced down to his knees, struggling to grasp the open wounds as blood profusely ran down his back. He brought his hand back around, hating the warm and sticky feeling of his own blood. A metallic scent wafted up his nose, causing a sickening feeling to bubble up inside of him.

Above him, the Nemean Lion roared thunderously at the four others, and Percy groaned in pain.

The descendent of Poseidon closed his eyes, reaching out for a water source. He found one, not too far away. Now...

A small tugging sensation began in Percy's stomach as he drew the water closer, the pain growing worse as he continued his grip on the water.

"Get... off... me..." Percy managed out before commanding the water to knock the enormous lion flying into a nearby freight cart, before dousing himself in the liquid. Almost instantaneously, he could feel the long, jagged tears through the flesh in his back slowly repair itself, almost shivering at the feeling of his flesh slowly stitching itself back up, the skin stretching and folding in on itself almost made Percy bite back a whimper. He didn't know what was worse – the accelerated healing from the water or the actual wound being opened by the Nemean Lion.

Grover rushed over and helped Percy up onto his feet, ignoring the fact that a massive chunk of hair had been hacked off due to the monster's claws. The satyr began to lead Percy over to the train, but Percy shook him off, reaching into the remains of the van and pulling out his evil sword.

Grover shivered as he took a look at the sword, the evil radiating from the hellish creation. It's strange shape sure did bring out Grover's worst fears, almost as if it was a nightmare itself. He was all the trees in the world burning, while Juniper, his girlfriend, was slowly and cruelly burnt to death. It made him feel sick.

There was a whimpering from the freight car that the Nemean Lion was in. Slowly, the beast's glimmering golden fur could be seen leaving the freight car, stumbling as the lioness made her way down to the sandy ground, her hateful golden eyes burning as they locked onto Percy and Grover. But she couldn't run, as golden ichor was gushing from her front left paw – the claws had been ripped out.

"Zoe, can't the lion's claws kill it!?" Percy yelled out, Grover helping him retain balance as the wound on his back finalised repairing, leaving three, sickening red tears in the skin.

"She thinks so!" Thalia yelled back, and Percy sighed, glaring at the gigantic, golden lion.

"Good." Percy grunted, heaving his sword up and shook Grover off of him. "Get to the train." He ordered the satyr.

"And what happens to you?" He asked, his goat legs quivering in fear.

"I go another way, meet my mother." Percy said as the Nemean Lion stalked towards them, avoiding pressure on her wounded paw.

"Alright. Don't die." Grover said, reluctantly leaving Percy to face the snarling lioness alone.

The two circled one another, Percy desperate to get one of the claws from the shredded van roof. Just a few more metres... The lion roared and lunged at Percy, who dived backwards towards the claws. He felt his hand wrap around the barbed claw, hissing in pain as it pierced his flesh. He continued to roll, finally stopping at the wheel of the wrecked van. Groaning, Percy stumbled to his feet, awkwardly holding the barbed claw in his hand. The Nemean Lion roared and lunged, and Percy ducked down and slid under the mid-air lioness, sinking the claw deep into the lioness' abdomen.

 _SHLICK!_

The claw sliced open the Nemean Lion's underbelly, her intestines collapsing out like a chain of sausages over Percy. Golden ichor spewed from the wound, the stomach hanging out of the lion's open underside. The lion shrieked out in pain, collapsing to the ground in a crumpled heap, skidding across the snowy ground. Ichor poured from the wound, staining the snow.

Percy picked up his fallen sword, and drove it into the lion's exposed, and beating heart, ignoring the cries of pain and spasm as the Nemean Lion slowly died. She then melted into fine, golden sand, leaving behind a golden fur pelt. The sand was scattered by a breeze of wind, and Percy staggered, exhausted. He was never doing that again.

The Champion of Hell collapsed to his knees, wheezing out air as wave after wave of pain shook through his body. His hands had pins and needles from the claw biting deep into them; his chest felt constrained, restricted if not. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.

"Percy!" He barely heard Grover as he ran over, his goat legs caked in snow. Everything went black, the voices slowly fading in and out of existence until... Nothing.

They were extinguished, like a small flame.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

Percy groggily opened his eyes, unsure of what had happened.

He was unsure of where he was. He was in some barren cave, a mass of boulders was located on the far side, a dark brown haired woman crouched down under them. She looked around her mid-30s, and her sea-green eyes were vibrant, almost like Percy's. A faint chant then started, catching Percy by surprise. He could barely hear it, making out a few words.

" _Five... West... Chains..._ "

Percy looked around, confused. A young blonde boy walked through Percy grinning as he stood over the woman.

"Your son coming to save you, Jackson?" He snarled, glaring at the woman. Percy gasped in surprise.

Was this... Sally? His _mother?_

" _One... Lost... Land with... Rain..._ "

A young, auburn-haired girl was then thrust out of the shadows, landing on the ground with a grunt. She looked back, her silver eyes glowing with hatred. She tried to cover her exposed flesh from her torn up silver dress, so bright it almost matched her beautiful eyes.

"Arty..." Percy's breath hitched as he looked at the weakened goddess, a pair of bronze cuffs wrapped around her wrists.

" _The Beast... Trail..._ "

The chanting was slowly growing louder, and Percy took a step backwards.

" _Campers... Hunters..._ "

"She'll die, goddess. What will you do?" A deep, thunderous voice mocked from behind, and Artemis shifted over to the weakening Sally.

"Remove these." Artemis demanded, holding her cuffed hands out.

The blonde boy raised his sword and sliced the chain in half, and Artemis instantly took the weight of the black boulders from Percy's mother.

" _Titan's curse... One withstand..._ "

"Mother..." Percy croaked out, just as a voice from behind spoke loudly.

"Make her death slow, Luke."

"And one shall perish by a parent's hand."

" ** _NO!_** " Percy roared out, and Luke drove his sword into his mother's lower back, going all the way through her stomach.

"No!" Artemis cried out, and Percy burned with rage.

"Boy..." The deep voice from behind Percy spoke dangerously. "I don't like trespassers."

"I'm going to kill you..." Percy snarled, and the deep voice from behind laughed.

"Good luck with that, swine." The voice snarled, before a meaty hand grabbed Percy, and threw him out of the cave, everything once again returning to darkness...

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 **Uh... Don't kill me. Pretty please.**

 **Yay.**

 **Okay, so no bull crap excuse as to why I didn't update other than the fact that I'm lazy. Like, REALLY lazy.**

 **And I'm sorry. Good? Good.**

 **I don't have much to say other than I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And until next time!**

 _ **~ The Prince of Souls**_


	12. 11: A Few Words With the Sun

Percy's eyes snapped open and he sat up, sweat pouring down his face. He then fell back down, clawing at his throat as he felt someone squeezing his neck tighter and tighter until his head would pop like a balloon.

Black spots began to dance across Percy's vision until a man rested his hand on Percy's head, causing the choking sensation to stop.

Realizing this, Percy shuffled backwards towards the wall of the train cart behind him.

Was he on the train with the others?

"Don't worry, Perseus. I'm here in peace." The man said, and Percy looked him up and down quickly.

Wearing a freshly pressed pair of jeans and t-shirt, the man was tall and lean. He had golden blonde hair that was gelled up in some fashion, his eyes a startling blue like the sky. A golden bow was strung across his back, almost similar to the one Percy remembered Artemis having all those years before.

"Who are you?" Percy asked weakly, rubbing his throat due to the close call with death-by-asphyxiation.

"I'm Arty's brother. Can't say my name unless you want my father to blast us all to the Pit." The man said, before snapping his fingers.

His immaculate skin began to dark and develop a sheen of sweat and grime; his now-greasy hair clung to his head. The fresh clothes he wore began to shrink a bit and tear; along with that the man now grew a small, filthy beard.

Percy rummaged through his memory of immortals he had heard of while in Hell, and one name popped out to him: Apollo.

"Apo-?" Percy was cut off by Apollo's grimy hand going across his mouth, silencing him.

"Shh!" The Sun god held a finger to his lips, before telling Percy "You may call me Fred."

"A god named _Fred?_ " Percy was slightly confused by the alias. Why Fred?

"Yes. It was the first I could think off that didn't have a nickname or meaning that is something inappropriate and laughable." Apollo nodded dumbly, spouting out his rather stupid excuse.

"Like Richard?" Percy asked, understanding to an extent.

"Yeah. I was going with something like Harry until I searched it on the Urban Dictionary. Never again." Apollo shivered as he mentioned the 'Urban Dictionary', as if it was incredibly disturbing.

"And that was?" The Champion of Hell arched an eyebrow, but Apollo shook his head.

"Na, nah, na, nah. How old are you?" Apollo asked quickly.

"...Fourteen...?" Percy answered slowly, somewhat unsure of his age.

"Yep, definitely too young. Ask me when you get some hair on you're chest! Or you search it yourself. Your call." The god shrugged, before looking around carefully and reaching into his coat pocket and handing Percy a small satchel.

Percy opened it up and peered inside, only finding a flask and a doggy bag filled with some toffee-like substance. "What is this?" Percy was very curious as to why a god gave him a flask and some candy.

"It's ambrosia and nectar, food of the gods. Surely Hell teach you of these details, Percy?"Apollo casually answered, breaking character for a moment.

The grandson of Poseidon got defensive, his hand inching its way to the Sword of Enoch nearby. "How do you know of Hell?" Percy growled, his hand wrapping around the hilt of his sword and picking it up, aiming it at Apollo.

"Arty tells me everything, Perce. We're twins, trust each other and always have one another's backs." Apollo answered quickly, his sky blue eyes fixated on the sword. He tried to push the blade away with his finger, only to jump back in pain, clutching his left index finger. A severe, black burn grew over the sun god's skin. "OW!" He cried out, cradling his injured digit.

"Well, that's new." Percy raised his eyebrows in surprise before lowering his sword. He really never expected the sword to have this kind of effect on those with ichor running through their veins.

" _NEW?!_ " Apollo cried out, "You gave my finger _GANGRENE!_ "

"And burnt it. Now stop crying, Fred. It heals." Percy rolled his eyes, and the undercover god instantly stood up straight and at attention.

"Uh, yeah. Anyway, I'm here incognito. I'm glad y'all found my train." Apollo said as Percy took a seat back on the ground, staring down at the aisle of fancy cars.

Apollo sat down next to him, feeling bored.

"How far have we travelled?" Percy asked curiously.

"Quite far. Sunset is near, however, so I can't help you guys for much longer." Apollo answered, and Percy nodded thankfully. He had been unfortunately roped into the quest to save Artemis and Annabeth.

"Where are they? Artemis and that?" He asked, and noticed Apollo's features darken.

"Not even I know that, Artemis has somehow been hidden from me. This means that nothing good is going to come of this, especially the part concerning the Titan's Curse." Apollo grumbled, glaring at the Lamborghini in front of him.

"Titan's Curse?" Percy inquired, clearly confused after his lack of Greek knowledge other than the names of the Major Gods (including the Olympians) and a few of each of their powers.

"Well, one of them anyway." Apollo shrugged, unsure himself. "There's Prometheus, for example, who's getting his liver pecked out by Zeus's Eagles. All Titans were locked up or killed by Zeus after the Titantomachy and the Gigantomachy, most given some form or punishment or burden, so it's really hard to think of which one."

Percy nodded, before saying: "I don't particularly find getting my liver pecked at for eternity entertaining. Sounds like Prometheus would have a grudge."

Apollo liked the suggestion, but it was blindly made. "True, but Prometheus is a snake, and would do anything to win. However, he isn't known to make gambles like this one. But there are also Titans like Atlas, who holds up the sky, who would make this kind of gamble. Especially one like this."

"So, any chance you could find out who has captured your sister?" Percy asked again, thinking over what Apollo had just said.

"No, Percy. Not without breaking even more of the ancient laws. It's stupid, but they must be abided." Apollo had to look away from Percy, distain that he was powerless to aid in the rescue of his twin sister.

"Alright then. Well, this is rich. Going against a possible Titan with no proper back up..." Percy grumbled, and Apollo smirked.

"When you find the Titan, I'm sure you will understand what must happen to allow you to succeed. Now I must go, kiddo. Make sure you rain Hades down upon the Titans." Apollo grinned slightly, before disappearing in a flash of gold light, leaving Percy to stand alone in the damp train carriage.

A gust of cold wind rushed against Percy's skin, causing him to shiver. The biting cold almost reminded him of the Ninth Circle, with how it bit away at him and cause him to squirm. The Devil's evil cackle then filled his head, almost convincing Percy that he was there. But he wasn't, thankfully. The demons made sure of that.

A monstrous cry cut through the air, startling him. It was unnatural, and a familiar feeling passed over Percy when hearing it. The power of the Demon Princes was nearby. Percy mentally ticked off any possible beast from Hell it could be. Hell Hounds are more wolf-like, so no. A lesser demon would take over a mortal host, so that's a no-go too. Demon Princes themselves would avoid coming out of Hell, as the Angels would most likely attack at a moments notice, obliterating them. Before he could think of another possibility, a much closer shriek sounded.

Thinking quickly, Percy pulled out his sword and rushed to awaken the others he was on the quest with. Zoë glared at him as he awoke her, almost shoving an arrow into him. A third shriek was then heard, almost right outside of the train cart they were in.

Seconds later, a claw tore through the cargo door to the train cart, allowing the moonlight to poor into the carriage. With a feral snarl, the wall came crashing down and the entire cart groaned, the beast barrelling into the cart and through the other side of the cart. Percy was almost taken with the shadowy beast; it was moving so quickly that nobody could make out any of its features.

Momentarily later, it leapt back in, on top of Percy, and Percy's sword clattered as it hit the ground outside of his reach. The beast snarled as it tried to rip at his throat. "Get... OFF!" Percy snarled, punching the creature a number of times in the head, causing it to retreat.

Leaping to his feet, Percy used his foot to kick up his demonic sword, sighing in bliss as the dark powers from the sword ran through his body, filling him with energy. Looking at the beast, it was almost humanoid, but it's body parts had ben seriously mutilated to that of weapons or some different kind of appendage such as a claw. Then Percy saw his face, and almost recognised half of the beast's face.

"Jack...?" Percy asked, hoping he remembered the name correctly. The... beast standing before them was one of the candidates from the Demon Rites, but he had been killed by Percy back at Westover... right?

The monster stared at Percy, before bellowing out an anguished cry, and lunging at the group. Percy didn't want to, he remembered this boy as one of the many who had perished a slow and painful death. He may have been one of the arrogant people from the Rites, but none deserved a fate such as this. Raising his sword, Percy met the beast and sliced it down the middle, grunting in effort as the he felt the sword tear through the monster's skull and brains, the sickening squelch almost echoing out as the two halves of the mutated boy hit the ground with a thud, blood everywhere. The squelch noise came from a part of the boy's brain falling out and landing on the ground, right behind Percy.

"What in the name of Zeus is WRONG WITH YOU?!" Thalia screamed out, glaring at Percy as Grover turned away and threw up over the sight of the mess caused by Percy.

Percy didn't answer as he just stood there, running his finger carefully down the blood-coated sword, relishing in the raw power oozing from it and the feeling of the thick, red blood all over him.

"A lot, Daughter of Zeus." Percy answered after a few seconds, wiping his finger off on his jacket and proceeding to wipe the blood from his sword on the corpse of the beast.

"Who was that, Perseus? Thou two were obviously acquainted with one another." Zoë demanded, her dark, obsidian eyes burning holes into Percy.

"Just somebody I thought I recognised from my old home." Percy bluntly answered, sighing as he ran a hand through his long hair. He should probably think about cutting it down to a tameable length.

Zoë had had enough of Percy constantly avoiding these topics, and explain everything – from where he came from, and why he was even helping them in the first place. Percy sighed, almost cursing as to how he would even explain anything – he didn't even know that he would have to at some point. He wasn't expecting there to be demigods on this quest so soon. But it was perhaps just something that he would have to deal with.

"And where is that? We know nothing about you other than your name and you carry some evil sword – so I think it's time you spill the beans." Thalia snapped, her whole body tense as if she was resisting the urge to pounce onto Percy and rip the information out of him.

"Hell. I would tell you more, but that is for some other time." Percy answered briefly, putting his sword away and carefully looking out through the hole in the train carriage.

"Why not now?" The Daughter of Zeus almost demanded, electricity crackling in her hand as her anger rose.

"Because I have a bad feeling about this... Monster. I doubt he is the only one, there's going to be a lot more of them on their way by now. So it's best if we leave this train and continue by foot." Percy explained to an extent. He didn't have the slightest clue on how to explain any of the situation regarding Hell.

"Won't that just help them in getting us quicker?" Grover asked from the back, still on his knees and averting his eyes from the gory sight of the dead monster.

"If I'm right, it would make it harder for them to get us. I don't know how to really explain this, but this train line runs across quite a few doors to Hell, so if we leave we will have some distance between us and them." Percy was choosing his words very carefully, trying his best not to confuse the others with trying to explain Hell Gates, portals between them, and such. It even still boggled his own mind to an extent.

"Then it is settled: we get off at the next stop. Get sleep, thee will need energy for the next few days." Zoë stated, and everyone agreed. They all sat down somewhere to sleep, except for Percy. He threw the dead body off of the train along with any of the gore such as the brain too.

Sighing, He stood there and stared out at the rapidly passing scenery, thinking to himself about his life so far. All this time he had hated everything about Earth, especially the deities that protected the fragile world of mortals, but he had grown to love the lands very much. He found the constant life... exhilarating, to say the least. The thought of the power he had over these mortals did excite him, as they were so weak in comparison, he could snuff all of their little lives out with little effort. But at the same time, he felt as if he had some sense of duty towards these mortals, as if he was the only being that stood between Hell and them destroying the beautiful plains of Earth. Yes, humanity was flawed – there was no use in denying that fact, as he had seen this himself through the souls trapped down in Hell and the wars they wage upon one another for the most immature of reasons, a simple pissing contest if so – but the species held so much promise, so much potential.

And amongst these thoughts, he had grown somewhat fond of the gods he had met so far. While it may have been very few – Artemis and Apollo – they both carried similar traits of extreme care towards the people they knew, which was a trait Percy had believed to be non-existent amongst those who sat idly minded atop of their golden thrones of Mount Olympus. But that was only two gods – there is an entire pantheon that Percy is still unaware of, and they could be exactly how they were described in Hell: arrogant, self-loathing, incestuous bastards who slaughtered millions of innocents (including their own children) during their conquests of the past, such as the Second World War in the 1940s. Only time would tell, and Percy prayed that the rest of the gods were not ignorant, but with his luck, they're likely to be the most ignorant of any being in the whole universe.

Absent minded, the young boy turned and paced away, choosing to take a seat in a dark corner where he would slowly fade out of consciousness, his thoughts fading along with his mind in the waking world, allowing his dark unconscious to take over.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

The bellowing echo of a train horn started Percy awake, causing him to slip and fall onto his side from his sleep. He had not slept easy as it was, his head was pounding violently. Rubbing his eyes as he sat back up, Percy heard movement from the cars the rest of the group had decided to sleep in. Using this time to stand up, Percy was almost blinded by the rising sun glaring light through the gaping hole left from last night's ordeal. Running a hand through his hair, he knew that he would probably need to get it all cut off. Not entirely... just most of it. He would not go bald like Alistair's chosen mortal form – that is something he never wishes to become.

"Percy?" Thalia's voice sounded from one of the cars as she climbed out, her clothes creased due to her sleeping in them. Percy undoubtfully looked like a serial killer with the amount of blood that is over him.

"Yes?" He answered bluntly, turning slightly so he could face her.

"Might be best if we get off this train, I doubt anyone will be all too thrilled about a gaping hole in the side of their train." She jokingly remarked, and Percy shrugged.

"Yes. I don't think Fred will be too happy." Percy tried joking, and Thalia raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Who?"

"Oh... You guys didn't meet him. It's a certain sun god who loves himself, but assumed a pseudonym so your father does not find out about him meddling in the quest at this stage." Percy deadpanned, almost facepalming at his stupidity. Why would Apollo have told the others about him helping them? The less he revealed himself the better, perhaps.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Now the train line makes sense. But you met him? Why?" The Sky Princess began to interrogate Percy in a manner of speaking, and he groaned.

"He was giving me some intel about Artemis. He mentioned the Titan's Curse, and that there are many of them. He gave me a name though of someone likely to take a gamble like this – Atlas. There was also some Apollo stuff from what I gather, where he mentioned an urban dictionary?" Percy answered, and Thalia stifled a laugh when she heard about the Urban Dictionary.

"That's useful, maybe we should tell Zoë and the others this information too – it will be useful. And as for the Urban Dictionary – Google it once we save the damsel in distress." She joked. Percy was just confused, if not more so.

"I'm sorry; but what is Google?" Percy asked, clearly confused.

Thalia facepalmed. "I'm sure we'll explain everything once all of this is over with. But speaking of the devil..." Thalia trailed off just as a car door slammed shut, and Zoë emerged from said car, having clearly to have just woken up. Both turned to face the Lieutenant of the Hunt as she walked up to them, her face in a permanent scowl. Percy almost made a comment about her being like a statue – one face all the time.

"What is wrong?" Zoë immediately asked slowly, as if she was trying very hardly to use modern English. She could easily read Thalia before her – Percy on the other hand just seemed his usual self – troubled, self-loathing and a dark violent nature on the verge of boiling out and wreaking havoc.

"The sun god visited me last night, before we were attacked." Percy began. Zoë's eyes widened slightly when she heard that, her full attention aimed at Percy. Percy paused for a second before continuing. "He told me something of the Titan's Curse. He gave me a name, too, of a possible Titan to have done something like this: Atlas. But to keep the option open, as it can be many different Titans."

Zoë nodded. She was not surprised at Apollo's interference. Instead, she was actually... Proud? It seemed a suitable word for the circumstance, as she knew that Artemis would give her life for her little brother, and it actually warmed her millennia-old heart to know that Apollo is risking his immortal life for his little sister. And this much information was very valuable. However, she already had her suspect as to who the Titan they are after is.

However, Percy was keeping something from them all. And Zoë wanted to know what it was; she would find out.

"Atlas did this. Thou would not know, but he is the General of the Titan Armies. He is powerful." Zoë said with certainty. Percy rubbed his chin, thinking. Everything was clicking into place now...

"Atlas is free." Percy said, his eyes widening. Zoë nodded, and even Thalia made sense of it, remembering the Smithsonian.

"And you're only telling us this now?" Thalia snapped at Zoë, whose obsidian eyes glared daggers at the Daughter of Zeus.

"Yes. I did not wish to worry thee." She answered, and Thalia tensed up, her fingers beginning to crackle with electricity. "But thou have not told us all." Zoë turned to Percy, her eyes glaring at him.

Percy sighed, and looked away. He mumbled something, but it went unheard.

"Speak up." Thalia said, her electric blue eyes glaring at Percy.

The boy felt his eyes water as he remembered what he had seen in his dream when he was unconscious. "They killed my mother..." He said, refusing to look at them. "I just found out about her before I found you guys. Then I was out after the Nemean Lion and... Well... Luke killed her, drive a sword through her back." Percy continued, but Thalia's eyes flared up at the mention of Luke.

"Did thou see where?" Zoë asked, unsure of what to do other than lightly rest her arm on Percy's dirty shoulder.

Percy nodded slowly. "Artemis was there. She was looking for me with my mother. Some cave, and Artemis was holding up some boulders. That is all."

Zoë's eyes widened at that. "And thee mother is?" She asked, dreading the answer.

"Sally Jackson, Daughter of Poseidon. Why?" Percy asked, unaware that his mother was well known.

"Percy," Thalia said, her eyes momentarily meeting Percy's, "Your mother is a hero to us demigods... We're going to find her."

"I know where they are." Zoë said quickly, and Percy turned to her.

"Where?" Percy demanded.

"Where the Sky and Earth meet, where they are held apart so thee may never sire another child together. Mount Tamaulipas." She answered, and Percy nodded.

"Wake the others up then, we need to get on with this. We need to get off of this train as soon as possible." Percy said to the others, and the train whistled again as they felt the train starting to slow down, suggesting that they were about to make a stop.

A few minutes later, Bianca and Grover were up and waiting for the train to stop. They got off in a small town, apparently somewhere in New Mexico. The air was bitterly cold, and even Percy had to adjust his clothing to lessen his shivering. It felt as if the Ninth Circle of Hell had opened up on top of Earth, and was crawling all over the town.

Zoë passed Percy some form of pelt, noticing Percy's shivering. He looked at her confused, but she forced it into his hands. "The spoils of war from thy Nemean Lion. Thou killed her so they belong to thou." She explained, and Percy took them carefully, draping the pelt over his shoulders and watched as it glowed and changed into a simple fur coat.

"T... Thank you." Percy said, the phrase feeling incredibly strange to say. He had never had to express gratitude before. It felt... abnormal to him. But, at the same time, it felt pleasant. Like he could feel genuine... Nice, perhaps? He wasn't so sure. But he liked it, and that was all that mattered.

Zoë just nodded and walked ahead with the others as they explored the small town they had entered.

They entered a gift shop and brought some junk. Percy stole some rubber rat, thinking it looked funny. He sat down outside on the pavement, and sat the rat down in front of him. He really was bored, and thought about the candidate from the night before. He had killed Jack back at Westover Hall, when he turned on Hell. So how had he attacked them last night? Something was going on in Hell, and Percy wasn't sure if he really wanted to find out how that had happed to Jake.

A light thud tore Percy away from his thoughts. He looked to his left, and saw Grover sitting there, resting his crutches down on the sidewalk.

"I can read emotions, you know." Grover said randomly, his voice sounding nervous.

"Is that a Satyr thing or something?" Percy asked, trying to keep the topic off of him.

"Yes. But what aren't you telling the group? I feel emotions coming off of you in strong waves." Grover stated, and Percy refused to look at the satyr.

"I have nothing to tell you lot. Last time I checked, you don't trust me – so I don't trust you." Percy snapped, staring at the toy rat at his feet.

"Well that's because we don't know you, and you killed two people in front of us for crying out loud!" Grover seemed like he was about to explode, something that seemed very abnormal for his character. Then Percy thought quickly – the Sword of Enoch. It was making him more prone to anger, along with everyone else.

"Well, when you spend your entire life in Hell, you learn its either kill or be killed, Grover." Percy answered.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Grover looked dead at Percy, locking with the corner of Percy's eye. "I can feel the hatred you carry for that place, along with the pain. You are confused, as you feel like you don't belong, and guilty that you caused something. But I also feel that you have an attraction towards someone on our side – are they why you turned to us?" Grover very quickly spoke, and Percy was taken back a bit by that. He had not expected the Satyr to get this much.

But the attraction? Percy mental scoffed at that thought. Relationships were just a means to an end, a distraction most of the time. He could not risk forming any in case the world turns to chaos.

"I watched my mother get killed by Luke, that's the anger, guilt, and everything. If she hadn't been looking for me, she would be safe at home..." Percy said darkly, is stare becoming a glare as he wished to destroy everything around him. But he looked at Grover when he said the next part. "That attraction is merely a farce. I have no time or reason to feel that, so please stop confusing something like that with me."

"You're mother...? But Artemis is who we are going to save, is she why you...?" Grover started, before his eyes widened when he saw Percy's glare lessen slightly at the sound of the Moon Goddess' name, and the slightly increased heartbeat. But then realisation set in. Percy was the grand child of a god. "Your mother is a demigod?" Grover asked, intrigued by this revelation.

"Yes. I was told by a... mother figure from Hell. I trust her, and she still told me after my betrayal." Percy nodded, confirming what he knew.

Grover, however, could not believe his ears. A demigod had actually lived old enough to have a child? How was that possible? They must have been hunted by monsters forever.

A sudden breeze hit the two as they sat there, and it felt oddly warm. It was familiar to Grover, and then he heard somebody speak to him.

" _ **Come to me! Find me!**_ " The voice cried out. It was a faint echo, but the power rolling off of the voice caused Grover to collapse onto his side, grabbing his head as he cried out in pain. Percy jumped onto his feet as the rat at his feet suddenly came to life and scurried off, but he didn't have any time for such a distraction.

Hearing Grover's cry, the three girls ran out of the shop and saw Percy kneeling over Grover, having taken off his coat and placed it over the Satyr as he began to shake violently. As they approached, a sense of dread washed over Percy. Something evil was approaching.

Seconds later, a jeep screeched around the corner of the road and out jumped what seemed to be around ten to twelve Spartoi, and Percy's eyes widened in surprise. No, something worse was coming. Much, much worse.

The skeletal monsters each pulled out assault rifles and were about to begin firing upon them when Percy threw the Nemean Lion hide coat on and stood up, arms out and stopped each of the bullets from reaching the others, grunting in pain as they were all definitely going to give him masses of bruises the next day.

"Watch him while I hold them off." Percy ordered, and grabbed his sword from his back. He turned around just as the Spartoi began reloading their guns, and charged towards them.

The young boy was savage as he dived and impaled the first one, and it appeared to choke and explode into black flames before the flames were swallowed by the sword, and the skeleton crumpled to nothing but dust. Bianca and Zoë ran up next to Percy, and began hacking at the Spartoi with their hunting knives. Zoë was only causing them to cackle and fall apart, only for them to reattach themselves. Bianca, on the other hand, only got one but it burst into flames, dying with a scream before it exploded into dust. Everyone was confused as to how she did this, but didn't stop to ask as the rest of the Spartoi drew swords and other weapons. Using his coat to deflect any incoming damage from the weapons, Percy hacked and slashed at the rest of the monsters, Bianca helping as she could somehow kill them as well. Soon, the Spartoi were all dispatched off and away with the wind in clouds of dust.

They began to make their way back over to Grover who was beginning to come to, Thalia carefully giving him some bottled water she got from the convenience store behind them.

Then, the sense of dread grew even more, and then a roar echoed throughout the town. Cursing, Percy instantly knew what it was. Another mutated candidate.

"No..." Thalia said, her eyes wide. Down the other end of the road to the jeep, a candidate sleeked out of the shadows and revealed itself. This one was more humanoid, but barbed chains replaced the hands in the form of whips and spikes crudely stuck out of the elbows and shoulders.

They needed to think quickly just as more came up behind the monster, almost like an army was starting to form.

Bianca pointed to the jeep. "We can use that!" She said to the others, and without a second thought, Percy picked Grover up over his shoulder and aimed his sword towards the monsters stalking towards them. A man slowly emerged from the shadows, and Percy almost began to tremble with fear.

A pair of ghastly white eyes locked with Percy's own, gleaming with malice and promising pain. His hair was cleanly shaven and his face had some stubble, and the man cocked his head at the group of children. He wore a black suit, and his mouth turned upwards into a sadistic grin, almost like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

"No..." Percy muttered, fear evident in his voice. The jeep roared to life and sped down the road, stopping behind Percy.

"Get in!" Zoë yelled, behind the wheel. The back doors to the jeep opened and Percy threw Grover in, but he couldn't leave. _He_ was there.

"Leaving so soon, dear boyo?" The man asked in a British accent, his voice not very deep but rugged.

"…" Percy was speechless, he was filled with fear. Then, he felt the need to say something.

"I'm going to kill you, Alistair." Percy snarled.

"Uh, uh, ah. Don't make promises you can't keep. You never know what the consequences of breaking a promise can be!" The man, now known as Alistair announced, his grin widening even more. "But first..." He trailed off, and his eyes glowed brightly. He raised both arms towards the quest group, palms facing upwards.

Thalia reached out of the jeep and dragged Percy inside, almost causing him to drop his sword.

"SICK 'EM, MY CHILDREN!" Alistair roared, and the monsters roared to life, and charged towards the vehicle.

Zoë put the car into gear and slammed her foot down on the gas, turning around and speeding out of the town and down the mountain road, and Percy remained deadly still as he lay over Thalia's lap, lost in thought and shocked.

 _Alistair had done this to the candidates... The monster had finally done it..._

And Percy had never felt so scared in his entire life. _He_ was next to be put through the mutations.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

 **So, uh, hi guys. I'm back I guess? It's been a year and a month, I know... Heh.**

 **So, I can't really say sorry for my absence. I just needed... Time? Space? I don't really know, but I felt as if I needed to stop for the time being, and sort myself out. I was going through a rough patch back last year, Exams and everything. And a lot has happened over the past year. Lots of which weren't exactly pretty, but my mind has been far away from FanF .**

 **Until recently, that is. One of my school friends found out about my... hobby in this, and convinced me to start writing again, stating that I have "talent". Heh, could've fooled me, thought I was pretty crappy at this due to the massive lack of reviews I got.**

 **But as I previously said, I have changed a lot over the past year. I have matured (it was much needed, trust me), but more importantly I learnt that I can do something, no matter how screwed up I am. Why am I saying this? Christ knows, but maybe this can help out someone else who feels like I do every day. Other than maturing, I learnt about relationships, and how important they are for us to function, and the void left behind once it breaks down. But, we all get through it. This website, these stories for example, are my release to all of the stress I face in life. All of my problems expressed through words, and I can use them for stories.**

 **But, none the less, other than the negative and deep stuff (bloody hell), I am almost 18 now, and I am taking three A-levels at an all-girls school (they allow boys for sixth form... It's confusing, I know), that include Chemistry (ugh), Law (yay), and Psychology (my favourite by far – I have included some things I learnt from this subject into this chapter and will do so to increase the depth I can reach with character development along with telling the story). With all that has happened, my goal for this story has not changed, same for the sequel I thought up when I first started writing this story.**

 **Outside from all of this, I have thoroughly missed all of you guys here on FanFiction, and the support I got (no matter how little it was) for this story. I am thankful for those who supported me, and will continue to be if they find the heart to read my stories again, after my year off. But, I also hope that you guys understand why I had to take a year off.**

 **Finally, I am going to ask for each of you to leave a review. They, no matter how small, mean lots to every author and make their day, as they show us that our peers enjoy our stories, and lets us know that others want more. So please, do leave a review! ㈹8**

 **Alas, this is where I am going to end. 5.5k chapter and this 0.5k A/N is very long winded, I understand. But third time lucky – REVIEW!**

 **Farewell, I will update as soon as I can – and not in a year's time, I promise.**

 _ **~ The Prince of Souls**_


	13. 12: Castellan and Jackson

Nobody knew how long they had been driving for, but it was silent for most of the way. Percy and Grover had both recovered and both sat either side of a rather annoyed Thalia. She wasn't annoyed at Grover – if anything, she loved the little goat-boy for being loyal to a fault. He had collapsed due to, what Grover claimed to be, the overwhelming presence of the lost god Pan – the god that all Satyrs endlessly worshipped.

Thalia was mad at Percy. Not directly, but still him. She hated that she knew about Percy, and the people he used to live with. They had... mutilated those people and crafted them into monsters. And these monsters were worse than the ones that traditionally hid under your bed.

These were the kind that ate your friends and family and made you watch, before eating you too. And killed puppies. Because there's nothing worse than a puppy killer. They were too innocent and cute to kill. Everyone knew that... Well, maybe not Percy, considering he spent pretty much his entire life down in Hell.

"No, no, no, no, NO! Thou useless piece of rubbish!" Zoë shouted angrily, hitting the steering wheel of the car over and over as the jeep suddenly let out a loud grumble and choking noise – sort of like a very deep and loud burp. They began to slow down until they finally rolled to a stop, and Zoë simply put the car back into neutral and put the handbrake on, before storming out of the jeep, severely angry.

The rest of the quest climbed out of the car after her, sighing in annoyance at the fact that they would have to travel by foot. Strapping his sword back to his back and pulling the fur coat tighter round his body, he followed after the four others.

It didn't take long, but the cold sense of dread soon began to wash back over Percy, and his eyes went wide like a dear caught in a headlight. "They're already nearby." Percy announced to the rest of the group, and they all shared a sense of terror. They would not be able to defeat a group of beasts like that, especially with someone Percy fears after them. All they knew was that his name was Alistair – nothing more.

Well, and the fact that he claims to have created the very monsters that chased them.

Percy looked in the distance behind them. There were a few very distant shadowy figures, the remaining demonic creations following close behind the group that they see or forming a flank. Percy hoped that it was neither of those factors – much like the rest of his acquainted quest-mates.

"We need to run for it." Grover said, throwing his crutches to the floor and starting to run, none of the others willing to say otherwise as they all followed suite. Grover, thanks to his goat legs, was obviously the fasted. The massive sword on Percy's back, however, was hindering him to keep up with the others. Thalia slowed down so he could keep up with her, but she knew that at their current pace they would be overrun shortly.

Luck seemed to with the quest group for once, however. Ahead of them, appeared to be a junkyard of sorts. Bronze constructions gleamed and stood tall, as if they were warding off unwanted visitors. This most likely included Percy and the others. They slowed down slightly, knowing that they would have to outsmart the demon horde, as outrunning them would be useless.

Zoë knew exactly where they were. "We need to be careful here, we are in the Junkyard of the Gods – a lot of things are most likely traps so be careful."

The rest of the group agreed and decided to stick together as they explored the bronze jungle of deadly machinery. Hephaestus obviously was very unpleased with many of his different contraptions, as could be told by the vast machinery that was laid out over the area. They soon found themselves at the bottom of what appeared to be a _large_ bronze foot. Like, something that would belong on a Godzilla or King Kong sized monster.

Climbing on top of it, Zoë looked down the enormous foot towards a possible body that was covered in much more useless junk. Her breath hitched as she looked ahead, as if she had seen something she had been dreading.

A deafening roar could be heard from the distance, and all of them looked in the general direction they had just come from – the demon hoard was almost upon them. Percy climbed up the foot as well, and looked upwards. A large metal figure in Ancient Greek style armour was laying there, as tall as a skyscraper. Percy gulped, but then had an idea.

This place seemed to be made of celestial bronze, which is what the demigods weapons were usually made of. Maybe these weapons could be used... But what would protect this place from monsters other than... the statue before him!

"Stupid idea, but what is the chance that this thing is the protector of this place? Like say if something left this place, it rises up to defend the place?" Percy suggested, feeling rather stupid. But, the idea also excited him. Like the massive robot statue was a massive destructive toy he could use to utterly obliterate Alistair and his forces.

Zoë looked deep in thought, but Thalia had already nodded in agreement. "Alright fish head, that sounds fun. But what if it comes for us rather than them?"

"Thee distract it, draw Talos' attention towards the threat." Zoë suggested, and Percy grinned.

"Wait, that's Talos? Surely a prototype, its meant to be enormous, is it not?" Thalia checked, surprised.

Zoë seemed to share Percy's grin for a split second. "Yes, maybe so. But, it does not mean thee cannot use any of this to thou advantage."

Grover picked up a bronze cross bow along with a collection of arrows. "How's this?" He asked, unsure if it was suitable or not.

Bianca, however, had something small in her hands, as if she was cradling it. Percy jumped down and asked her what it was. She smiled, and showed it to Percy.

"It's a gift for Nico... It's the only figurine he doesn't have, he will be so thrilled." She was thoughtful of her little brother, Percy would give her that. It almost made him think that he wanted a younger sibling. It seemed pleasant.

Nodding, Thalia had already handed the crossbow to Zoë, and she locked and loaded it, aiming at the demon hoard and fired an arrow, it clearing the junkyard in a matter of moments and soaring through the air, and an angry curse suggested that Alistair was hit with the arrow.

Percy grinned to himself, and his fingers hovered over his sword, reminding him of how long he has waited for vengeance upon his torturer. Alistair had made him who he was – and he was going to repay him for everything by taking him out as the monster he is. It will be messy and bloody, but _damn_ would it be worth it.

A loud whirring sound was heard under Zoë and she leapt off of Talos, and the five ran for cover as bronze machinery and trinkets flew high into the air, raining down over the junkyard. The beast stood up tall, Percy could see half of its face melted. It looked around, and it stared at the massive hoard approaching the junkyard.

Talos drew its enormous sword with an extremely painful screech, and marched towards the approaching monsters.

" **NO! DESTROY THAT ABOMINATION!** " Alistair roared from the distance, and the sound of metal being shredded filled the air.

No... Talos was supposed to win!

"We need to run, and now." Thalia said, and the five crawled out from their hiding spot and ran away from the mass carnage.

But a tingling sensation came over Percy, and a mutated candidate dived over a mound of bronze and onto Percy, attempting to maul his face off. He was on his back, and couldn't get his sword... Why now of all times?

"Go! I'll catch up!" Percy barked. While reluctant, they ran ahead, knowing fully that Percy would defeat the monster.

Thalia, however, returned and drew her electric spear from her canister of mace, and stabbed the candidate through the skull.

With a painful screech, the demon spawn collapsed onto Percy, blood pooling everywhere. The daughter of Zeus yanked her spear out of the candidate, and looked... distraught?

Percy heaved the demon up and slid out, and got up onto his feet, recovered in blood. Yippee for him. He walked over to Thalia, and gently put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and met his eyes. A dark, rich sea green pair of eyes that were gradually appearing lighter and lighter than the world's oceans met with an electric blue that was calming at first, but absolutely beautiful as they looked as if actual bolts of electricity were sparking through them. Thalia blinked and her eyes began to water. She had just _killed_ somebody. It was different to a monster – this was a _human_ once by how it bled.

"Thank you," Percy said, somewhat soothingly. He really wasn't sure on what to do. So, he said the first thing he could think of. "For, uh, spearing that guy through the head?" That did NOT sound right once said.

And said point was proven when Thalia punched Percy in the stomach with an electrified fist. "Ass hole," She said. "I just _killed_ somebody for -!" She was cut short when a THUD was heard and the daughter of Zeus collapsed to the floor in a heap – unconscious.

Turning over as he groaned in pain, Percy looked up and saw a dark figure standing before the Moon, making the figure's features considerably darker.

The figure then spoke, and Percy knew that voice from anywhere. And it was one person he wanted to kill as much as Alistair.

"Ah, Perseus Jackson. How lovely for us to finally meet in person." The man said, smiling darky. The jagged scar running down his left cheek. His sandy blonde hair was extremely messy and long, draping over his face. The man held a half celestial bronze and half mortal steel sword at Percy's neck, his pearly white teeth gleaming in the moonlight as he grinned sadistically.

"You..." Percy growled as his eyes went dark, almost black. He felt nothing but pure rage.

"Yes, me. The one who's going to bring Olympus down." The man chuckled. "Oh, and I also enjoyed slipping my sword into your mother. It was so... satisfying." He removed his sword from Percy's throat and delivered a brutal kick to Percy's face, splitting his cheek wide open.

"I'm going to KILL YOU!" Percy roared, spit flying everywhere as he went into a feral frenzy.

"Erm. Hate to break it to you, but you won't." The man arrogantly stated, kicking Percy back down as he attempted to get up.

Percy was seeing red. His body was hurting, everything stimulated from the electric punch from Thalia had enhanced his sense of touch. He would have to thank her for that later.

A deep, burning pain began to build up in Percy's stomach as his anger continued to rise, the constant images of the man before him killing his mother in cold blood, all over some spat he has with some pitiful gods.

"So, you are the one, ay?" The man grinned as he took multiple steps back. He seemed to be careful as a loud crash of thunder could be heard from overhead. A large drop of rain landed on Percy's head, and he felt some energy return to him.

An even louder crash was heard, and Luke began to look scared. The wind slowly began to pick up, and rain began to freely fall down, pummelling the ground and forming a massive puddle around Percy. Almost instantly, the pain over Percy's body began to lessen and he began to gradually feel stronger and stronger, until he slowly stood up onto his feet.

"Luke..." Percy snarled, looking up at the man before him.

Luke was beginning to feel fear. This child... He was too powerful.

Percy's eyes were beyond beautiful. However, they were incredibly frightening at the same time. They were glowing a vibrant sea green, and they looked as if the waves of the sea were cascading around inside of them. He truly was powerful – more so than his mother if possible. And Luke had heard the stories of Sally Jackson's powers over the seas. Percy had never used his powers before according to Hell. So how in Hades was he causing this enormous storm?

Slowly, Percy reached over his shoulder and drew the Sword of Enoch, the dark blade evilly reflecting the eerie moonlight across the puddles or rain pouring around them. His knuckles began to turn white where he gripped the hilt of the demonic sword so tightly, and his gaze remained fixated upon Luke.

Luke got himself into a stance to do battle. He would have to fight this kid. And hopefully, he was not as good with a sword as he was rumoured to be.

With a cry of rage, Percy lunged at his opponent, his eyes almost ablaze as they shone with so much hatred and anger.

Luke simply took a step back, and parried the strike, almost disarming Percy. With another snarl, Percy attempted to cleave Luke in half, but he jumped back and out of the swords reach. Luke took a strike and Percy moved mostly out of the way, grunting in pain as the sword caught the top of his arm. Blood began to pour down Percy's left arm, and he briefly looked at it before shrugging the pain off, deciding to ignore it and fight even harder.

"Is this _all_ that you, Hell's ex-Champion, has to offer? You do disappoint me, Perseus – your mother too." Luke taunted, and Percy decided to take a few steps back and breathe deeply. He needed to calm down. As the rain slightly lessened with his extreme rage, Luke noticed the wound on Percy's arm slowly closing up.

The Son of Hermes cursed under his breath when he saw this. Percy was pretty much un-killable at the present moment. He needed a much more even playing field – one that included dry land without any chance of rain. He would need to regroup and rethink this situation, gather his strength a lot more.

Luke too took a few steps back, sighing in frustration. He _wasn't_ running like a coward. He was not his father and the other gods. It was strategic, a play for power. _Yes,_ He thought, _no cowardice will be conducted from my side of this war._

Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, golden pearl, and dropped it onto the ground. "Until next time, Jackson. But neither of us die today." He stated, and raised his foot before bringing it down onto the pearl.

"No!" Percy roared, dropping his sword and diving for Luke as he appeared to dissolve into golden dust that then continued to float off incredibly fast Westwards. He hit the ground with a thud where Luke once was, and punched the ground in anger. He had missed the perfect opportunity to avenge his mother! How? Just _how_ could he be so foolish?

He punched the wet ground in anger, and felt a tear trickle from his eye and along his nose, before falling off and hitting the ground. _Silence._ That was _not_ good. Widening his eyes as he shot up, Percy's eyes darted around the junkyard. Were the monsters gone or something?

No, they want them dead – especially Percy. It would make no sense that they would abandon their task. Unless...

Percy's eyes widened as he realised that Alistair was planning something bigger and worse. He could not be sure what it exactly was, but it was anything but good. Bring Hell up, onto Earth? No, that would require the entire First through Third Hierarchies of Hell's Princes to accomplish. Alistair alone was not powerful enough. No... He must have an even worse monster up his sleeve.

And Percy was not going to stick around and wait to find out what it is. Thinking quickly, Percy rushed over to his fallen sword and moved the sheath to his waist as he sheathed his sword, before picking up the unconscious Thalia along with her spear and slinging her over his shoulder. It was time to rendezvous with the rest of the quest group.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

The grand city of Olympus was a sight to behold. The entire city was built in a mountain-like format, similar to how it used to be at their original home on Mount Olympus.

The Throne room to the Olympian gods was in the dead centre of the city, at the very highest peak, and was closed off from the rest of the city. A meeting was clearly going on.

Inside, several men and four women sat in seats around the throne room, each of the figures enormous in height. One throne remained empty, however. It was silver in colour, and belonged to the missing goddess Artemis.

Zeus sat in his own golden and marble throne, scratching his greying beard with one hand and gripping his Master Bolt tightly with his other hand. His daughter had been kidnapped by the enemy, and they were powerless to intervene as demigods and other mortals had joined the ranks of the enemies.

Next to him, sat his elder brother Poseidon, who also had a gaze of steel, his features filled with rage. He had just received word of his daughter's... harm. The Son of Hermes would die a most painful death by his hand for that betrayal. And his niece would not have much longer to live, all the while the General of the Titan Armies was free from his prison under the sky.

"Father," Athena piped up. Her dark brown hair covered her face as she looked as if she had not been resting, and constantly researching. Well, to add to this, a large book was nestled in her lap, wide open on some page that Poseidon could not make out. While he did dislike the goddess, her thirst for knowledge and care she carried for her children was... admirable, no matter how much it pained him to admit it.

"Yes, Athena." Zeus spoke, his gaze not leaving the ground.

"I believe I have found a loop hole in the Ancient Laws." She announced. This got all of the god's attentions, especially the Kings of the Skies and Seas, and God of the Sun, Apollo. He too, looked extremely exhausted where he was carrying out his sister's duties for her as well as his own.

"What is it? Can we go in and ice these ass swipes?" Apollo asked eagerly, summoning his bow and a quiver of arrows as he leant forward in anticipation.

Athena wore a sad smile, almost apologetic as she looked at Apollo. "I have, but only one of us can get involved." She stated, and Apollo immediately stood up.

"I'm going then." He declared, and Zeus shot him a glare.

" **SIT DOWN, APOLLO!** IF ANYTHING, POSEIDON AND I WILL DEAL WITH THIS!" Zeus roared, his eyes alight with rage as lightning crackled all over his body. The scent of ozone filled the air.

Apollo sat down, deflated and angered with his father. Poseidon shot Apollo a look of sorrow. He understood the sun god's eagerness. He was a brilliant and caring brother towards his sister. Under all of the "play boy" persona that Apollo put up, he was a deeply emotional and caring god. Not a gentleman per say, but he would lay his immortal life down for anyone, especially his twin sister.

Athena then looked at Zeus. "No, father. You cannot intervene, and neither can Poseidon I'm sorry, but unless they go out and venture into your domains, which I doubt any of the Demon and Titan forces are idiotic enough to do, then your hands are tied."

Zeus huffed and sat back in his chair, looking ready to break something.

"However, as this is a _war_ , we do have one god." Athena stated, and all eyes turned to the war god, Ares.

Nodding his head, Ares rose to his feet and his eyes scanned the throne room. He took a few steps forward and drew his sword, and thrust it into the marble stone as he took a knee, bowing to his king as if he was a knight. Armour began to appear over Ares in a bright golden light, sealing the deal.

"What can I do?" He asked, standing up. He was deadly serious here. No more playing around.

"You can aide the quest so far. I believe that they know their where they need to go, but the four in getting to the Titan Stronghold wherever it is, and return the General, Atlas, to his prison under the sky." Athena stated, and Ares nodded in understanding.

"There's five, not four!" Apollo announced, and all eyes turned to him.

"Five? Only four left Camp?" Athena questioned, but then her eyes widened. "You... Idiot!" She shouted, and Apollo sunk in his throne.

Zeus glared at Apollo. " _WHAT?!_ " He thundered, his eyes burning brightly with lightning.

"I may have given the quest a way West..." Apollo said meekly, and Poseidon sighed and face palmed. Zeus looked ready to explode, as he stood up and aimed his bolt at Apollo.

"I should strike you down for breaking the laws!" Zeus roared, and Poseidon stood up, lowering Zeus' arm.

"He is being a brother, Zeus." Poseidon reasoned, but his words were forceful, and threatening. "Do not punish him for trying to do good by his sister, your daughter."

Apollo thanked Poseidon as Zeus and his uncle sat down.

Athena turned around to Apollo. "And who is the fifth quest member?" She inquired.

"Percy Jackson, Uncle P's grand kid." Apollo said, a small cheeky grin appearing on his face as he gave Poseidon a nod. The sea god smiled too when he heard that his grandson was helping out with the quest.

"And what haven't you told us?" Athena demanded.

"He saw Sally getting stabbed, by Lucas Castellan. That's the only way that I knew. But... They are being perused." Apollo trained off, unsure of how to tell them what had attacked his train and some chatter from a partial prophecy foretelling a very brutal death by the hands of the demons.

"By what, Apollo?" Poseidon demanded, his sea green eyes narrowing.

"I don't know what they were, but they are from Hell. I think they're being led by the Demon called Alistair, but that is all I know." Apollo said, and Poseidon turned to Ares.

"Go, NOW! Help hold of the demons from my grandson and the others! They must save Artemis and return Atlas at all costs!" Poseidon barked.

Ares turned to Zeus for his final world, wishing that he could protest and argue against the fact that he might not be able to battle the Titan of Endurance.

"Go, Ares. We cannot sit idle any more while the Demons wreak havoc among this world." Zeus commanded, and Ares nodded, sheathing his sword and disappearing in a flash of gold.

Poseidon turned to Athena. "You should rest, owl head. You need it. I'm sure Apollo wouldn't mind researching as punishment." He suggested, giving both Athena and Apollo a gaze of steel.

Apollo nodded in agreement, but knew that he would ot be able to keep to that for long. The second he knows where they are, he is going to aide in his sister's rescue.

"Thank you. Father." Athena nodded to her father before disappearing in a flash of golden light, Apollo with her.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

Back at the Junkyard of the Gods, a bloodied Alistair stood over the dead candidate, a wound in its head.

He looked down at the wound, and grinned devilishly at what he saw.

He stood back up, and turned around. "Get up, you fool. We have work to do." He barked, and began to walk off, pulling out a knife and slicing open his hand, chanting something in an odd tongue.

He looked at the damp ground, and snarled as he looked West. Luke had showed them the way it would appear, the idiot.

He walked off, and behind him, the monster's eyes snapped wide open, glowing a bright amber as the wound on its head healed up fully. It let out a ferocious roar, and Alistair smiled to himself.

They were _un-killable_ by demigod weapons.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 **And SCENE! Damn, some of that was fun to write! Especially all of the changes I made to the canon, such as them using the Talos prototype to help them out and such.**

 **I do hope you guys like this slightly different writing style I am trying, with describing everything. Well, it feels different to me anyway. Might just be where I've just come back to writing.**

 **Thank you, guys, for all of the support you guys gave last chapter though.**

 **However, one reviewer did point out a point about 100 reviews being a lot. And yes, it is. But, I more look at the review-to-view comparison, and shortly after I uploaded the last chapter I got well over 2,000 views to the story. But, the chapter only accumulated around 350 views. And with 12 reviews over a three/four-day period, I am pretty happy with that! I ask for reviews because they DO add fuel for the fire known as our egos. And that is all they serve as a form of praise and criticism for the egos. I would like to thank all of you guys who have taken time to review, because to me, they personally do make my day and give me that minute distraction from a harsh reality. It says to me that people appreciate the stories that I write out, not so much as incentive to write faster.**

 **And some are also wondering about the Blood of the Moon story I started around 2 and a half years ago. I will update it, but it will be a long while before that. That is simply because I have been really unhappy with any rough next chapter I have written out, so I am considering writing a full plan for it before I do anything else to it.**

 **And why doesn't that story have a plan? Well, I used to "wing it" when I wrote. It is good, but it is also bad, as I have learnt. I will try and have a new chapter for the story out by the end of the year. I'm sorry it is long, but I do have other necessities that require my attention before that story, including this one, my studies, a (slowly forming) social life and a very aggravating life in general. So please be patient with that story.**

 **I did not mean to "call anyone out" with the above statements – I just answered them here as I felt like it was something that should be answered for everyone else in case anyone else shares that opinion. Also, if you guys do have suggestions on how to make my summary eye-catching, please do drop a PM or review and suggest something, because I am all for making this story as popular as it can possibly be.**

 **And lastly, I would love to say a thank you to some reviewers. These three are BlueFireRunes, Coarvus and ZGirl101 (TheLastoftheRealOnes, now), for always leaving the most brilliant of reviews that always get me to laugh – and have always stuck in my mind as some of the first people to read this story and stick all the way through, even after a year-long absence! So once again, thank you!**

 **Thank you, guys, for reading this chapter, and I do hope you enjoyed it! Please, if you wish, do boost my ego and drop a review. I will update soon, but I first must complete some impending homework (and get wasted at parties), so the next update will be a week or so away! Until next time!**

 _ **~ The Prince of Souls**_


	14. 14: The War God's Sacrifice

West. That was all Percy knew, but that was where he was going to go, no matter what. Luke and Alistair, along with their armies were, west. So, he would go that way and when he gets to the ends of the earth, he would kill them both slowly and painfully.

Zoë, Grover and Bianca were waiting for Percy and Thalia just outside of the Junkyard of the Gods. They each looked exhausted, and instantly stood up when Percy appeared with the unconscious daughter of Zeus slung over his shoulder, some blood leaking down the back of her head due to the head injury she gained from Luke.

"What happened?" Zoë instantly asked as Percy lay Thalia down before them, and turned around, placing a hand on his sword as he scanned their surroundings.

Nothing. Just an empty Arizona desert (well, ignoring the massive junkyard they had just been forced to walk through) and a dark, clear night.

"Luke showed up, and knocked her out from behind. We fought, and he ran." Percy answered quickly, not breaking his focus from their environment. Something had to be nearby. Alistair would not just simply " _back off_ ", as one would say. The Torturer of Hell was not that smart, and only agreed with brutal attacking. It was just his style of doing things.

"The idiot..." Zoë growled, checking the small cut on the back of Thalia's head.

"How come you didn't stop him from knocking her out?" Bianca asked, curious. She had seen him fight like a wild animal – he would not have allowed something so stupid to happen unless intended.

"Thalia punched me with her powers, sending me down." Percy admitted, taking the hit to his pride.

"Oh..." Grover mouthed an 'O' shape with his mouth and drew it out for a long period of time. It really was annoying to Percy, reminding him of his failure. His stupidity and carelessness had caused Thalia to get injured.

Zoë let out a sigh of relief. "She'll be fine." She told them, and a small weight was lifted off of Percy's shoulders.

"And we're pretty much alone out here. It might be safe to stay for now if it's the call you want to make." Percy suggested, and they all looked down at the unconscious Thalia.

"We'll rest up for a bit. But we will need to get moving soon, as we won't have much longer." Zoë declared to the rest of the group, and they all nodded in agreement. They were not sure about how much time they had left before the sun would start to rise, so Zoë suggested they each take turns keeping watch.

"I'll take first watch." Percy said almost instantly.

After seeing Percy's eyes, the Lieutenant of the Hunt knew that he was sleep deprived. He looked ready to collapse and die. She would take the first watch.

"No," Zoë argued, locking eyes with the Grandson of Poseidon. "You look exhausted; I'll take the first watch."

Percy huffed in annoyance, but sat down, none the less. The air was bitterly cold, and they would need a way to make a small fire if they didn't wish to freeze to death out there. Percy took off his fur coat and laid it over the unconscious Thalia, knowing that it would keep her slightly warmer than before.

They each looked around, trying to look for wood – anything that could burn. Then, it turned apparent that they might have to return to the Junkyard of the Gods to look for something to keep them warm. Zoë and Percy said that they would go and look and told Bianca and Grover to watch over Thalia. If anything was to happen – call for them as loud as that could be.

And so, they set off back into the junkyard.

They wondered through the yard, far in where the air was still, and everything was deathly silent. Percy was looking at what seemed to be a portable stove with no input and output options – meaning that it was possibly enchanted to never run out of fuel. Percy bent down and picked it up and turned around to show it to Zoë.

"Does it work?" She asked, arching an eyebrow at Percy.

Shrugging, he placed it back onto the ground and pressed a button on the side, and turned the thermostat up. The stove lit up and began to slowly warm up, producing a low ticking noise as it slowly rose in temperature.

"It looks like it does." Percy commented, before switching it back off and allowing it to cool down.

"There is a reason all of this stuff it thrown out, Percy." Zoë warned him, and Percy looked at her, as if he didn't really care.

"It's not going to be the first time the Olympians have thrown something away, is it?" Percy countered, bringing both of his hands up and running them through his hair.

"What do thou mean?" She asked, slightly miffed by what he had just said. Sure, the Olympians were known for abandoning old customs and rules, but they rarely left any of their own undefended and unsafe, no matter how dysfunctional the family may be.

"Don't play games with me, Zoë." Percy countered, sighing in frustration. "The Gods have brought all of this upon themselves."

Zoë's eyes lit up with rage at that. "How _dare_ thee!" She raised her voice as she turned to the Champion of Hell, her fists clenched as she appeared ready to fight the boy before her.

"Think about it; they've left their children to fend for themselves for how long, exactly? Yeah, they have Chiron to train them, but what else? They have no parent to guide them, teach them how to use their powers properly. I never realised how unhinged the enemies of the gods were until I... Well..." Percy trailed off, before kicking a piece of scrap metal far away in a temper.

"The Gods are forbidden from interaction with their own children!" Zoë argued, and Percy scoffed at that.

" _Really?_ They break these rules all of the time! They just want a reason to cover their asses and an excuse to not have any interaction with their bastard children!" Percy roared, and a clash of thunder overhead almost startled Zoë. "These rules got my mother killed!"

Zoë looked away for a second, but then back at him. "Some don't know how to love their offspring. We are children to Lady Artemis, and she is a mother to us. That is one god who treats their children well. Apollo, he guides each of his children to camp, if not he asks us to help him out! Poseidon asks the mothers of his children to hang out around the seas so his people can protect them! Even Hades lived with his lover and children until they were murdered! So, how can a few gods make all of us bad?" Zoë argued, her eyes cold. "I'm sorry about your mother, but she was a grown woman. If you cared so much about her – why didn't you speak to her sooner?" Zoë continued, forgetting an important detail.

A bolt of lightning collided with a piece of rubble nearby, causing Zoë to jump out of her skin. She knew she had gone too far by blaming him for the apparent death of Sally Jackson. But, he needed to hear it.

"Hermes left his child, Luke, with a schizophrenic mother!" Percy cried out, "And he's now leading the charge against the gods for the Titan armies! There are moles in your training camp, all because of their parents being shunned by the Olympians or them simply not being loved by their godly parent! And I never knew of my mother, you idiot! I was approached by the demon I thought to be my mother and tell me of my birth mother's name, and that she was looking for me! And by that point, Hell was at her door and after her! How can I possibly get to her after I first find out she was already in the wind? HUH?"

Zoë was taken back by that and remembered him mentioning him not soon before he joined their quest finding out he had a mother. And her mind reached back to after they had been taken back to Camp Half-Blood, to when Artemis was speaking to Sally in the big house. But what confused her, was how did Artemis know so much about him? Why did she want to personally hunt for somebody, a boy as well?! It wasn't fully adding up; more and more questions were rising the longer she pondered on the facts so far. She wasn't seeing something – but what?

"Hell wasn't at her door, thee fool." Zoë answered. She remembered a brief detail about a scuffle Sally had had with a traitor to Olympus, from what Lady Artemis had told her. "Hecate had attacked her a while back, but that has been sorted. Artemis and her were searching for _you_ , when they were captured by the General." The Lieutenant of the Hunt was choosing her words very carefully as she spoke to Percy, but she couldn't wrap her head around her head as to why Artemis would willingly search for a boy, especially one who was affiliated with Hell as far as they knew.

Zoë didn't necessarily have that opinion of Percy now, but she wasn't completely good with him, in terms of trust, either. He had many secrets, and one evil sword. That alone was _very_ off putting. To add to that factor, she had witnessed him split two people in half. Not a pretty sight to say the least.

"Oh..." Percy didn't really know how to respond to that. He really had no clue. He really wanted to understand everything, but he was far from it. But Artemis was searching for him? That was new, but he shouldn't have expected anything less. But nothing could explain why. It seemed almost illogical.

Zoë refused to meet the boy's eyes, which wasn't hard. His long, matted hair draped over his eyes, shielding them form the beautiful glow of the silver moon. Only specs of sea green glowed through his hair, roaring with power - almost like he was Poseidon himself. His eyes were glued to the stove as if he was picturing something in there, enchanted by something he could see.

"We should head back." Zoë suggest, and Percy snapped out of his trance, nodding in agreement. Hissing as he picked up the hot stove, the two made their way back to their group outside of the Junkyard.

Setting it down in the middle of them, Percy switched the stove on and the gentle warmth eased out and soothed the group. Thalia's shivering decreased, colour returning to her features.

Grover and Bianca drifted off to sleep, and both Percy and Zoë sat there in silence. She decided to break it, as there was something that was bugging her about him.

"Perseus." Zoë said, and the young boy looked up from the fire, his powerful green eyes meeting her dark, obsidian eyes.

"Yes?" Percy asked, brushing his hair back behind his ears so that it stayed out of his eyes.

"Why betray Hell? What was it like?" She inquired, and Percy's darkened to a very dark green, almost similar to when Zoë first met him outside Westover Hall – dark, promising pain, and pure evil.

"I don't know." Percy answered flatly. He couldn't exactly say that his sword could talk to him – could he? That would make him sound even more insane than he already did. "I think I just snapped out of the conditioning we went under. I think finding out about my mother pushed me in this direction." He added. He wasn't even fully sure why he listened to the voices, if he was completely honest. He still feels that way, that he should start ignoring them and destroy his sword.

Zoë nodded, but she wasn't satisfied. "But what was it like?" She asked after Percy paused for a few moments, it clear that he wasn't going to continue.

Percy's gaze hardened, his eyes darkening even more. His breathing was heavy, and the air was incredibly tense. "Not pleasant." He answered bluntly.

Zoë was not accepting just that.

"No, you are going to tell me, Perseus." She demanded, clenching her fists. "Thou knew that man who was leading the monsters, and he knew thee, so why don't you start explaining what we are up against here!" She hissed, trying not to raise her voice too much so that it didn't disturb the others. She was constantly jumping between old and modern English due to how stressed Percy made her.

Percy sighed and looked up at the sky, before looking back at Zoë. "His name is Alistair. He, uh, is a demon, as you know. He is known as the "Conditioner" down under, he was the one who conditioned us all." He answered, gritting his teeth. The very thought of the man was acidic, and he hated everything about the monster. "He hated me, none of us knew why. I was the youngest candidate, so I just thought it was that. But it was probably because I wasn't a human like the others. I would heal quicker than the others, so he would hurt me more so that I would take just as long to heal." His voice was shaky, and it worried Zoë.

This demon was sadistic, yes. But there was something she was not expecting: this cold blooded monster before her was scared of this Alistair. And it wasn't some irrational fear. No, it was something far worse. It reminded her of some of the Hunters who had joined the ranks of the Hunt though her time, and they were all victims of severe domestic abuse. Their fathers or partners would beat them, and they would fend for their siblings or children. The mental torture some of these women would go through was excruciating; something Zoë would never wish upon anyone, including her worst enemies. Well, maybe them. But nobody else. She had witnessed a man beat his wife to death before, and it was not pleasant.

Remembering back, she and Artemis once had broken into a house and seen the father stab the mother in front of their two young children, a boy and a girl. Zoë remembered the cries from the children to this day. It was purely horrific. It was the first time she had ever seen Artemis willingly pick up a boy into her arms, and help a male at all. Artemis and her took the children to an orphanage, where they were looked over. Artemis had checked up on the two quite often, making sure that they were fine.

Zoë remembered when the boy reached manhood and wedded his wife. Artemis and her watched from afar, the one time they both agreed that a boy was a man – he had his own children, and loved the to the days they died. And she knew that Artemis was deep down proud of that young boy, and it was almost as if she helped the child out as she saw into the future, and that it would all happen like that. It was strange, but a beautiful memory that Zoë held. But she would never forget the fear that the children, the son especially, held towards their father. But, Artemis one day told her of the son's death, and that he died protecting his family and sister from his estranged father. Artemis had left for some time after that, and had killed the father – something they should have done a long time ago.

She never thought she would have to remember something like this in such a way. But she did. Percy reminded her exactly of that little boy she and Artemis saved that fateful day. Pretending to be fine, but deeply scarred and scared of their tormenters.

Zoë broke out of her thoughts and looked back at Percy, and he was almost a wreck. Is this what Hell was doing? Breaking down young children into either quivering messes or perfect soldiers? Using tactics even more barbaric than the Spartans or Norse in their trainings? She placed a hand onto his knee, and his shaking slowed until it was unnoticeable.

Percy looked up, and smiled slightly, before turning around to his sword, which lay by his side, sucking in the light around it.

"What is that, though? I've never seen such a design on anything in my life." Zoë asked, and Percy picked the sword up by its hilt so that the tip was resting in the sand, giving Zoë a detailed look at it.

It was almost majestic. But at the same time, it was horrific. The blade of the sword was dark, almost as dark as Hades' Helm of Darkness. The main blade was split down the middle, held together by scaffolding until they merged into a curved tip, the silver-like edge to the curved blade glinting in the glow from the fire. Zoë noted that the outside of the swords blade was just a normal, flat curve while the inside of the curve was serrated, almost like barbs that could be used to rip and tear the inside of whatever it cuts through. The serrated side had a small hook coming out of the base of the blade, threatening to cause even more damage in Zoë 's opinion. The base of the blade though, separating the hilt from the blade, was a different story. There was a massive, gaping jaw, with enough sharp teeth to rival that found in the mouth of a Great White Shark, and a small lip overlapping the blade, almost threatening to skewer somebody. The hilt appeared to be made from some layered stone, looking metamorphic, and a bladed hand-guard came over this, extended from the lip of the jaw on the sword.

"It's from Hell, not really sure who made it or how old it is – but it was locked away below even the Devil, so it must hold some dark secrets." Percy answered, picking his words carefully. There was no point in telling her about the voice he hears every so often, and that it comes from the sword. Then he would look proper crazy.

"Something worse than the infamous Satan?" Zoë suggested, fully aware of the Christian bringer of the Apocalypse. It was definitely one of the more twisted religions when it first formed, the punishment of heresy and social divides drastically grew when this religion first formed – thankfully she had never seen a deity from there. Not even an Angel, or Demon. But, there was one similar deity that they shared with the Greek Pantheon: a single Creator, one god who started it all. For the Greeks, they knew this being as Chaos. For the Christians, it was just God. All religions seemed to follow this principle, but nobody had ever met these "great creators".

"Maybe so," Percy agreed, placing the sword back down onto the ground, and turned back to the small burner in the middle of the group. Thalia had finally stopped shivering and seemed to be resting up fine, as did Grover and Bianca.

"You should get some sleep, Perseus." Zoë remarked, and Percy shook his head. "It wasn't an optional choice. Thou look almost dead from exhaustion."

Percy snorted, but decided to lay down none the less. "Wake me if you feel like trouble is coming." Percy commented, and Zoë nodded.

Just as Percy began to drift off, he heard Zoë comment, "I already feel like that," and then nothing. Just, darkness.

And then it began again. He began to fall, almost like forever, an evil cackle surrounding him, almost tearing him apart. He may not be in Hell anymore; but Hell was still inside him.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

Percy's eyes felt painful as he opened them suddenly, face down in the cold, winter sand in the middle of the desert. The sun had still not risen, and he was definitely feeling the exhaustion. Bianca was now watching, but she was barely staying awake on her own. Upon seeing Percy waking up she seemed almost relieved, and after he told her he would finish off the night, Bianca thanked him and drifted back off to sleep, snoring lightly. Percy stood up onto his feet and felt his bones crack all over his body, along with his scars stretch and burn.

He looked up at the sky, and saw a tint of orange in the distance, just over a mountain range to the East of them. They would need to set off soon, as the area would get lighter which would make them larger, and easier to find targets. However, it was safer for them to travel during the day because of the demons during the night were more powerful.

A humming noise in the distance catches Percy's attention, and he turns towards it. From the East, a plume of sand was flying high into the air, and seemed to be approaching them.

Suspecting the worst, Percy reached down and snatched up his sword, holding it tightly as the dust seemed to get closer. He kicked Zoë in the side lightly, waking her. She looked up at him and he nodded in the direction of the sand, and Zoë also shot up onto her feet, drawing her bow and loading an arrow, pulling the string all the way back as she crept round, awakening the others.

The humming was getting louder and louder, and sounded more and more like a car engine than a horde of running monsters, but that didn't allow Percy to lower his guard. The approaching vehicle wasn't housing a mortal – it was something godly.

"It's somebody from your pantheon." Percy said just as everyone got onto their feet, and there was what looked to be a black sports car speeding towards them, and was starting to slow down just as it clearly came into view.

Grover's eyes widened when he saw the colour scheme, almost like he knew who it was. Zoë loosened slightly, but none the less pulled back a bit tighter on her bow string.

The car finally stopped in front of them, and out emerged quite a largely built man with a crew cut. He was wearing a black leather biker jacket, black jeans, combat boots, a white muscle shirt and a pair of sunglasses. A pair of beady red eyes glaring through the dark lenses, almost like they were alight on fire, and were looking straight at Percy.

"The quest to save Artemis?" The man asked, taking a few steps towards them, and Zoë and Grover bent down into a bow, followed by Bianca who didn't want to chance it. Thalia glared at the man, knowing who he is, and Percy remained in his stance, his eyes glowing with power as he glared at the god before him.

"And if we are?" Thalia remarked, and the man shot her a cold look, promising pain.

"Father asked me to come and help you guys out with the little Demon problem, well, more like Poseidon did." The man said to Thalia, and looked directly at Percy. "You do look a lot like your Grandpa, kid. Just get a haircut and you'll be his twin." The man joked, and Percy loosened up slightly. He clearly wasn't an enemy at that moment.

"Who are you exactly?" Percy asked.

"Lord Ares, God of War, punk. Learn your gods. Now kneel, the both of you." The War God warned, taking a dangerous step forward.

"Or what? Strike your sister down?" Thalia snapped, and Ares sent her a death glare.

"Not today, sister. Not today." He snarled, taking a step back and pointed at the car. "All I have to do is help you get to San Francisco and help you guys out with any demon problems, as we received word that some Ally guy is bringing the entire apocalypse down on you five."

"His name is Alistair. And he has already tried that, so you're a bit late." Percy commented, and Ares shrugged.

"Whatever, all I care about is doing what was asked and I leave and go back to preparing to check on the other Titans. Now jump in." Ares snapped his fingers and the black car glowed and grew in length, until it looked like that of a limousine.

The back doors of the sleek limousine opened up on its own, and Ares gestured towards the open door. Zoë and Thalia proceeded over to the door, followed by Grover and Bianca. Percy stood still, feeling Ares' gaze cutting through him.

The God of War's beady red eyes lowered to Percy's sword, the rising sun giving it an eerie glow. Ares looks like he was about to say something – but he didn't. Instead he lowered his head slightly, and nodded his head towards the open car door.

"Get in, punk. What are you waiting for?" He asked, before opening up the driver's door and getting into the limousine and starting it up, and Percy sighed, and walked over and got into the limousine.

The insides of the limousine were dark, and full of leather. A minibar was at the back, a pair of fridges stacked full of sodas and different kinds of alcoholic beverages. Percy decided to sit in the far corner from the bar, near the closed panel between where the quest was and where Ares was seated, driving them.

Percy barely sat down when he was almost thrown to the ground, Ares hitting the gas and taking off like a bat out of hell. He sat down and lay his sword down across the seats next to him, looking at the other four as they all got themselves a can or glass of something to drink. It was hard to see in the low lighting, but they all seemed to be having the same thing – Coca-Cola, in some bright red can.

Sighing, Percy tilted his head back and stared at the roof of the limousine, thinking. He couldn't make sense of anything anymore – it all seemed to be a jumbled mess. But, there was one thing he was dead certain on: He was needed back in Hell, it was clear that they were taking up arms and he was the only person not on their side and could get into the wretched place.

He just needed some time to think, he guessed.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

Percy snapped open his eyes as he flew into the air, shooting upright and looking around urgently. He had fallen asleep, and they cleared to still be on their way West. Thalia was sitting near him, half asleep. There seemed to be a half-drunk bottle of some clear liquid in her hand, and she seemed passed out.

He got up and pried the bottle from her hands and looked down at it, catching a whiff of the contents of the bottle. It smelt almost like gasoline, and was potent. He looked at the label on the bottle and shook his head, taking the bottle back over to the minibar and putting it away.

He never knew that the stress of Luke would hit her this hard. Had they really been that close? Shaking his head, he returned to his seat, unsure of how long they had been on the road for.

He knocked on the panel and Ares opened it, peering round for a second before returning his eyes to the road. "What do you want, punk?" He demanded.

"How long we been on the road?" He asked, and Ares shrugged.

"No clue, but it feels like forever. But San Francisco is not too far away, maybe a few hours at most." He answered, not taking his eyes off of the road.

Percy nodded, and Ares turned his head slightly, just so that he could look at Percy.

"What was Hell like, kid?" He asked, his aggressive tone gone. He sounded... curious? But it wasn't of much surprise; of course, the infamous God of War would be interested in what Hell, the most evil and twisted place in all religions, was like.

"Awful," Percy answered, sitting back down properly, but turning his head slightly so that Ares could still hear him. "A lot of us died. We would also mutilate people, sometimes sneaking out to torture a few souls."

"All of you kids?" Ares inquired, a dark edge to his tone of voice.

"Yes," Percy replied flatly.

Ares growled in the front seat – he felt a bit sick after hearing that. "And I'm guessing that there were thousands of you guys?"

"Not sure really, but we were given numbers at first before we found out our names. Around 7,000 of us in my group alone." Percy nodded.

"Anyone who went by the name of Jack Street down there?" Ares asked.

Percy shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I think so, but I never really spoke to anyone. Why?"

"Went missing shortly after he was a month old. His mother murdered, she was a good woman." Ares looked back at Percy, and he refused to look at the god. "What happened?"

"He's dead. All of them have been mutated into monsters. He was one of them." Percy said bluntly.

Ares cursed, and clenched the steering wheel tightly. He wasn't happy. "He was the last of my original bloodline. My first demigod child, and now that family has been fully wiped out." He explained, and Percy wanted to tell him that _he_ had killed him – twice, in fact. And once was over a pathetic spat.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Percy said. But he felt like he did not mean it. Well, he did, like he wished he had not killed him, but at the end of the day, the Jack that Percy knew would not be a good sight for Ares to see.

"Yeah... Well, thanks for telling me, kid." Ares snapped, and quickly shut the panel shut.

Percy just huddled up into a ball, and sat there in silence, staring at his legs. He was angry. At _everything_. Himself. His mother. His father, who ever that was. The gods. Alistair. Astaroth. Why was it all so difficult? He had no idea at all.

Everything was making less and less sense the more he sat there and thought about it all.

 ** _The Demon Rites_**

After a while of thinking, Percy shifted from his trance-like state as the limousine came to a halt. Outside through the tinted windows, Percy could see some buildings and in the distance, a large red bridge.

They heard the driver's door open and then their door opened soon afterwards, Percy saw the others get out. Sick seemed to be in the car, probably from Thalia.

He too climbed out, and was instantly bombarded with a fresh breeze and the strong smell of the sea. It was almost calming, clearing a lot of Percy's worries from his mind.

"San Francisco, kids, this is as far as I can drive you guys." Ares said, and then pointed to a mountain in the distance, with storm clouds building around it. "And to the base of that mountain is as far as I can take you."

Zoë nodded, and looked to the others. "Let's go then." And with that, the two hunters, satyr, demigoddess, god and ex-Champion of Hell began their journey on foot.

Half an hour later, the temperature dropped. They were in the glaring San Francisco sun – it should be of a reasonable temperature for them at that moment in time.

Percy stopped and looked around.

"What's wrong?" Zoë asked, and Percy pulled his sword off of his back.

" _He_ is near." Percy answered darkly, as the air continued to decline in temperature.

The rest of the group followed suite, including Ares. "Who is he?" Ares asked, and Percy growled in anger, his eyes darkening.

"Alistair. He mutated them all." Percy said darkly, and continued to tighten his grip on the handle of hid sword, staring across the busy road where he saw the very demon he had just mentioned, in his usual black suit with the top three buttons undone, and his bald, shaven head and light stubble beard. Percy wanted to dive across the street there and then, but he knew nothing would matter – he would most certainly lose to this particular Demon.

Alistair whispered something, but the words were loud and extremely deep and dark. Scary, almost. He was unleashing his power, and Percy was feeling fear.

The world slowly turned dull in colour as a wave of energy washed over them all. Ares felt a heavy weight press down on top of him, making him feel like he was deep underwater.

"The Five Questers, and some War _God_." Alistair spat in disgust, his glowing black and white eyes locking with Percy's.

"Kids." Ares announced, taking a step forward, his eyes burning. He removed his sunglasses, and stared the Torturer of Hell down. "Get outta here. Save Artemis, I'll hold them off." And with that, a flash of red light enveloped Ares, and when the light died down he was covered in a black and gold armour, brandishing an enormous sword.

Before anyone could say anything, Ares let loose a war cry and charged Alistair, and the two began to fight. Not wasting time, the five teens quickly ran as fast as they could, knowing that the War God could only buy them so much time.

Monsters then began to swarm Ares as he duelled Alistair and began to lunge on top of him. He wouldn't die, but Ares would be out of action for quite a while. When the group were far in the distance, they realised they were nearing the base of Mount Tamaulipas.

In the distance, the sun was nearing the point as to when it was setting, the sky slowly pinkening at the horizon. A deep, throaty roar was heard from the distance. The five Questers stopped at the sound, understanding what it meant.

Ares was down. He brought them a long time, but there was one good thing – Alistair had exhausted himself for now, meaning that he was no threat for some time. A cackle was heard not too far off, however – skeleton teeth cracking in some form of evil, demonic laugh.

 _Spartoi._ They were nearby. In the distance, an army could be seen marching towards the group.

"We will be cut off by that army – they'll be able to follow us through during sunset. " Thalia said, and Percy winced. He was thinking of doing something stupid. Very stupid.

"Then I'll divert them away – especially the Spartoi." Percy answered, taking a step away from the group.

"NO!" Zoë shouted at him. "We cannot lose another. Ares held them back for us – we all go or stay."

"No, he brought us some time." Percy countered. "We weren't expecting armies of monsters and demons to stalk us. They're after me anyway – this way you guys can save Artemis while I buy you some more time and meet up with you guys later." He did not leave much room for argument, and his mind was set.

Zoë shook her head, and then looked Percy in the eyes. "Don't die." She said, before turning her back and continued to walk towards the mountain looming over them. Thalia punched him as Grover and Bianca too said their goodbyes.

"I'll haunt you if I die." Percy joked to Thalia, and she smiled sadly, before pulling him into a tight embrace.

"I'll resurrect you and kill you over again. So, you better not die." Thalia said, before turning and running to catch up with the others.

Percy sighed, and reached behind his back to grab his sword, but decided against it. No, he told himself. Save the fighting for another time. Turning on his heel, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, feeling like they were never touching the ground with how fast he was running.

He could hear the monsters behind him. He just had to keep running.

At the base of the mountain, they each bit back a cry for Percy as the saw an enormous swarm of monsters charging after Percy. He could not keep running forever, they all knew that... But for how long could he keep it up?

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 **Whew! So, I forgot about my update schedule? Well, sort of, yeah. A-Levels last year went tits-up (my fault, I'll admit – studying has never been one of my strong points), so retakes are a bitch.**

 **But yeah; I'm alive! Somehow... Christmas and such have been shit-shows, except for getting into Uni (yep... my updates are going to be somewhat even slower!). Alas, I was 18 a few months back and I can now officially say: Adulthood is not fun. Kids, I envy you lot – taxes alone are a pain in the arse.**

 **So, when do I plan to next update? Well, I would like to suggest the end of February, but that's pushing my luck if I'm being completely honest. Maybe late March, until Easter time, to be safe? I'm sorry that these chapters are taking so long to write, but my current technique is flawed where I take such long breaks, breaking continuity, however these long breaks allow me to proof read my work thoroughly.**

 **But, that's enough about me, I hope everyone appreciates this drawn out chapter, and had a lovely Christmas and a good (if possible) start to 2018!**

 **Until next time!**

 _ **~ The Prince of Souls**_


	15. 15:The Slumbering Dragon with Bad Breath

The air was beginning to get heavy for the four remaining questers as they ascended the mountain. Grover took the lead, followed by Thalia. Bianca was in the middle and Zoë took the rear of the group. The path was gradually becoming increasingly difficult, the available path becoming more difficult the higher they climbed.

The higher they got, the more the sense of dread washed over the Lieutenant of the Hunt. She knew what was waiting for her at the top of the mountain. She really was not looking forward to it.

The forest was in the distance below them, and they could see the Sea churning below the mountain as dark, stormy clouds congregated around the mountaintop, centered around the peak of the mountain. The mountain was beginning to lose all sound from the wildlife they had not long left, and Zoë's dread continued to increase.

There was a reason that very mountain was known as the Mountain of Despair, especially for what it housed.

The mist began to get very heavy around them, and the entire group slowed down. Bianca almost slipped on a stone, falling and almost yelling as she did so. Zoë grabbed the young girl hard and cupped her mouth, so no sound came out.

" _Quiet!_ " She hissed, "Unless you wish to wake Ladon!"

Bianca nodded, and the group gestured for Zoë to take Thalia's place as to guide Grover more so, his goat hooves proving very useful in finding a safe route up to the top of the mountain.

After another five minutes of walking, there was what seemed to be a wall of fog that seemed almost impenetrable to light. The foot path had leveled out a bit, now wide enough for them to stably walk along. Zoë decided to take the lead here, deciding to get it over and done with.

She was home, after all.

As soon as Zoë was through the fog, she was swamped by a familiar, warm red glow from the setting sun on the horizon, the sea below turning bright pink along with the sky. It was a sight that she missed dearly and was glad to have been able to view it again.

The others passed through the fog and were too taken back by the beautiful land before them.

The path was now a much gentler dirt than the stone path they had used to climb, and the grass was a luscious green, shimmering in the light from the setting sun as dew began to set into what looked to be a meadow. Flowers and shadows littered the ground, almost glowing with vibrant colors. The sight truly was that of beauty.

Polished, black marble stepping stones were laid out around either side of a huge tree in the meadow and was covered in golden apples.

Zoë looked at the others, and could see them almost drooling – except Grover, who was _already_ drooling – from the fragrance of the apples in the tree. They couldn't get to the apples however – a _very_ large, coppery, 100-headed dragon was asleep around the base of the tree. _Ladon._

Then, she noticed the singing. Oh gods, the singing. The sisters were nearby.

Thalia went wide eyed when she saw something familiar docked at the pier below the mountain. "Guys, look!" She hissed, and they all looked.

A large, white cruise ship was docked, and Thalia remembered hearing about it, along with Zoë. It was the Traitor to Olympus' boat filled with an army of monsters. And if they were there, beyond the enormous tree, then that was a massive problem. They would be dead before they could even consider saving Artemis.

Turning their attention back to the meadow itself, Zoë took a step forward, and the eerie singing got louder. The shadows before them began to contract until four young women shimmered into existence. They looked very much like Zoë, all wearing white chitons. Their skin was almost like caramel, like Zoë's, and their silky black hair ran loose to their shoulders, where it bundled into loose curls.

The Hesperides. They were each as beautiful as Zoë – and just as dangerous.

"Sisters." Zoë spoke curtly. She knew that this wasn't going to end well.

The four girls just stared blankly at her. "We see no sister before us; just two Huntresses, a Demigod and a Satyr." One of them spoke.

Zoë expected nothing less. "You have no idea how much I regret giving that pig the apple." She argued, her volcanic eyes watering slightly.

"But you still did it." A second one spoke.

"A foolish decision that only you would be able to make." A third spoke.

"We should have killed you for it. Would've been easier." The second one followed, glaring daggers into Zoë. In fact, all the sisters were sharing the same expression.

"Maybe so. But please, we need to stop father's madness. He will bring destruct–," Zoë began, but the fourth sister stopped her.

"Silence, Huntress. Do not speak ill of our father. Do not even mention him. We all disowned you – you're nothing to us." The fourth sister snarled, and then there was silence.

"Just turn back. We do not wish to do what we must." The first sister spoke again, and Zoë locked eyes with each of them.

"Not without Artemis. Then, we can leave." She snarled, her hand drifting to her hunting knife in her belt. She would fight her flesh and blood if needed. But, she did have one last trick up her sleeve.

"You are foolish to think thee can leave with her. Father will kill you. We will get Ladon to kill you all." The first sibling threatened again.

The glint in Zoë's eyes was worrying. "Ladon, WAKE!" She shouted.

The dragon stirred, the coppery scales glittering like thousands of polished pennies.

"Are you mad?" The first sister yelled at Zoë.

"You're just a coward, sister. Thy are weak." Zoë snapped.

The dragon suddenly woke up, all 100 heads darting around the place, looking around for threats before all pairs of eyes rested on Zoë, all heads hissing simultaneously.

The sisters shrieked in fear, shrinking into the shadows and fading away from the meadow.

"Skirt around the edges. I will distract him." Zoë said, and Thalia shook her head when she smelt the dragon's breath.

Acid.

"No way. You will die." Thalia snapped, grabbing her by the arm.

"And it will allow thee to save Artemis. He will not harm me, hopefully." Zoë answered, her voice deadly calm. It was worrying for the group – it felt almost like she was fully expecting the outcome they all feared and has long accepted it.

" _Hopefully._ " Grover answered, looking panicked for the Huntress.

"It's not certain – nothing is anymore." Zoë shrugged, and stepped forward slowly, her hands held out either side of her in a non-threatening manner – almost as if she's attempting to soothe the beast.

Thalia went left, while Grover and Bianca travelled right around the tree, skirting around the edges of the garden. They hoped that Zoë's distraction worked and that the dragon didn't eat any of them.

Zoë meanwhile, continued to walk towards the dragon, talking calmly to it.

All was going well, but then something happened. The air suddenly began to decrease in temperature, and the group knew that something was going to happen. Something bad. It wasn't good at all.

Ladon lunged at Zoë, and she dived and jumped out of the way. Thalia stopped, but ordered Grover and Bianca to keep going – but to run. Aegis, her shield, formed on her arm and the heads facing her hissed and backed off, but the piercing gaze of Medusa also affected Zoë.

A shrill cry from the Lieutenant of the Hunt could he heard as one of the dragon heads bit down onto Zoë's side, and threw her to the side. Tightly holding her side, Zoë sprinted up past the dragon, Thalia running behind her as they fled the garden.

Thankfully, the dragon remained at its post around the tree filled with golden apples.

A few moments later when the group stopped to catch their breath, they all slumped. They truly were exhausted. The climbing up the mountain had truly done a number on them. And Zoë looked ready to faint.

"Let me see that." Thalia ordered Zoë, who begrudgingly removed her jacket and lifted her shirt, revealing her side.

The bite marks were inflamed an angry red colour, but her entire side was slowly turning a very sickly yellow colour. Poison.

"Zoë…" Thalia began, but Zoë stopped her.

"It is fine. Thee not need to worry." She said, her voice shaky. She was scared, knowing she would die if not given immediate treatment.

Grover began fidgeting, as if trying to remember something. Then it hit him.

"I, uh, think I can help?" He piped up, and Thalia looked at him, as if to say, "keep going".

"There might be a spell or something I can play to slow the poison down. But I'm not sure it can work. We will have to use the last of our Ambrosia and Nectar too, however." He continued. But he really wasn't sure.

"Do it." Thalia demanded, and Grover nodded, pulling out the last of it from his jacket pocket. There was very little – but it would have to do. He fed the ambrosia to Zoë, who chewed it u, and he pulled out his reed pipes and began to play a tune.

It was soothing at first, but then the pain hit Zoë. A violent burning sensation her side like a hot knife, and she could feel the poison stopping in its tracks before slowly being pushed out of her body.

Grover stopped after a few seconds. The colour and swelling had gone completely.

"I'm sorry, but that's all I can do. I just slowed the process of the poison." Grover said meekly, almost feeling bad about it.

"T-thank thou." Zoë said, sighing in relief as the pain left and let her shirt go and put her jumper back on.

The group decided to press on, knowing that time was even more of the essence.

They continued climbing, leaving the dreaded garden. Then, they approached broken pillars of black granite and marble and half-melted statues of gold. It was much worse than Zoë had ever expected.

"No…" She muttered, "Mount Orthys cannot be _here_ of all places…"

Bianca looked to her Lieutenant, arching an eyebrow. "What's so bad about this mountain? Can't the gods just blow this one up in some earthquake?"

Zoë shook her head. "No, its where Atlas holds-" She choked on her words then, "It's where Atlas once held up the sky."

It was far worse than any of them had ever expected.

They continued to climb, alas. Sun set was almost complete, only the very peak of the sun visible over the horizon.

They finally reached the summit of the mountain, and the scene above them did not look good. Underneath the churning dark clouds, which condensed into a funnel, was a young, heavily beaten girl holding up the funnel, and next to her lay an unconscious middle-aged woman.

Together in a circle, stood four figures. One was an enormous figure, who was packed with muscles. He wore a brown silk suit and was preoccupied by being deep in conversation with the other parties. This was Atlas.

The shortest of them was next – a young boy with sandy blonde hair, a gaunt face and a rugged scar running down his cheek. "Luke…" Thalia whispered.

The other two figures were masked in shadows, but without a doubt, they were two demons. One of them, they all recognised from when Ares got them to San Francisco – Alistair.

Zoë was confused. How was he there, when he would be after Percy, who had diverted the monsters away?

Zoë hissed in pain, her side burning up again. Grover catches her as she falls, but the noise grasped the attention of the four figures.

Atlas spoke first. "Daughter." He snarled, glaring at Zoë.

"Thalia…" Luke muttered, staring at the Daughter of Zeus.

The two demons looked around at the group.

"We meet again, I see." Alistair grinned sadistically.

Thalia began shaking with rage. Luke… Oh how much she had wanted to get her hands on the little weasel.

Aegis ands her electric spear sprung to life, and Thalia lunged out of cover for Luke, who too drew his sword and met her charge, the two beginning a brawl at the summit.

Artemis looked up weakly. "It's a trap! Run!" She called out, but it fell onto death's ears.

Bianca pulled her bow from her back and strung an arrow into the string, carefully taking aim, before letting loose of the arrow, and watched it fly.

It narrowly missed Luke, and almost hit Atlas.

"Bianca," Zoë said weakly, "Do not hit Atlas or the demons. It appears they're bound by the ancient laws.

Bianca nodded and aimed for Luke again, and the arrow sailed through the air. The second Demon cut the arrow down and glared at Bianca.

"Death to you, pitiful scum." The unknown demon glared at the three behind cover, and then turned to Alistair. "Take them all down."

The Torturer of Hell's grin grew at that. "With pleasure." He snarled, drawing a pair of daggers from the shadows and stalked towards his prey.

Zoë shakily stood up and drew her knives, walking towards him. She knew she would die in this fight.

" _ **ALISTAIR!**_ " A deep voice roared, and a spear of water tore through the demon, a sizzling sound heard by the others.

The demon leapt back just as an unexpected person emerged from the shadows, the eerie sound of a sword scraping along the ground being all that the group could hear.

Percy's eyes glowed a bright sea green, swimming with pure power and promising pain. They looked like the sea when Poseidon was angry. Zoë looked at him in awe, as did Artemis.

Percy looked over at the weakened Artemis, and then to the woman next to her.

"Mother…?" He whispered, and then he turned back to Alistair and Azazel.

Percy swung his sword over his head, and Alistair blocked his strike with both of his daggers, before pushing Percy back, kicking Percy in the chest as he was off balance.

Percy began muttering something under his breath and stood back up onto his feet.

"No, SILENCE HIM!" Azazel roared at Alistair, who lunged at Percy. "LEAVE!" Percy roared at the top of his lungs, aiming his sword at them and then black holes opened underneath the two, swallowing them whole as the holes closed behind them.

Luke and Thalia stopped fighting at that sound. The Demons had been exorcised for the time being.

"So, you are the infamous Legacy we've all heard about?" Atlas asked, holding his spear tightly.

"And if I am?" Percy asked, picking his sword up with both of his hands.

"This is your last fight." The Titan snarled, and Percy charged him, swiping his spear away.

Thalia cried out as Luke's sword caught Thalia off guard and she fell to the ground, weak. Grover was close to Artemis and Sally now, so they couldn't let him be seen. Zoë ran out to try and fight, and Luke went to stab Thalia and end it.

Percy slashed the sword out of the way and kicked Luke back, snatching up Thalia's shield. He banged his sword against the shield.

"Come on then!" He snarled, looking back and forth between the Luke and Atlas, the two circling him like a pair of lions.

Luke lunged first, and Percy caught the strike with the sword, before headbutting the stunned Son of Hermes, before parrying a strike from Atlas. Luke charged him again and Percy brought his sword down on him.

 _CLANG!_

The sword rung as the blade bounced off Luke's skin, and he grinned devilishly.

"What in the – ARGH!" Percy cried out in pain as a spear shot through his left leg, blood spewing everywhere.

Forced down to his knees, Percy was wondering. Was this it? He was going to be beaten so easily?

He felt the last of his adrenaline wearing off as a huge wave of exhaustion washed over him, almost causing him to pass out.

The spear was ripped from his leg, causing him to cry out in pain once more. He dropped both his sword and shield.

Luke stood in front of Percy, his sword in his hand.

"You're nothing. Weak like your whore of a mother. At least you die with her." Luke snarled, before giving Atlas the nod, who was stood grinning behind Percy.

Atlas raised his spear, and suddenly three arrows sprouted from his armpit, causing the Titan of Endurance to jump backs, ichor flowing from the fresh wound. Using his moment of opportunity, Percy rolled to the side, ducking under a strike from Luke.

He looked at Zoë, who was crouched down by the rocks with Bianca treating Thalia, another arrow drawn and aimed at her father.

Percy then looked at Artemis, who was holding up the sky.

She was immortal. She could beat the Titan.

He got up and started to run, but fell over after a few feet, crying out in pain from his torn open leg. He resorted to crawling towards Artemis, who looked up at him, her glowing, beautiful silver eyes meeting Percy's sea green pair.

"Give me the sky, Artemis." Percy grunted as he got himself into a crouch beside Artemis.

"No, you fool! Run while you can! It will kill you!" She ordered, but Percy shook his head in disagreement. He saw a celestial bronze chain wrapped around Artemis, and went to break it, but then realized his sword was out in the battlefield.

 _Damn it._

" _ **DAUGHTER!**_ " Atlas roared, kicking Luke aside as another arrow from Zoë made its way into Atlas' side.

"Sorry for this, just kick the bad guy under here when you beat him." Percy snapped, and barged the goddess to the side, howling in pain as the sky collapsed and landed onto his shoulders.

The pressure… it was more painful than his leg. Every muscle in his entire body was already burning.

Percy looked to his side, and saw his mother, pale and weak, laying there unconscious in a pool of blood.

Grunting, Percy pushed himself up, almost wanting to cry due to the pressure being applied to his leg. It was awful; well and truly awful.

"Fool!" Artemis cried out, gasping in pain as the bronze chain tightened around her body.

"I've been called much worse. Now get out of that chain and rip that Titan down!" Percy barked, before crying out in pain as he felt even more pressure push down on him. It felt as if the sky was trying to crush him and meet with the earth.

Artemis picked up a small bronze pen from Sally, who was now next to Percy, causing the woman's eyes to flutter open.

"Artemis…" She muttered weakly. Percy looked at her, and all he could focus on was this woman.

This was the moment he had been waiting a long time for. He had finally met his mother.

He looked back up to Artemis, and saw her putting down a bronze sword, and pushing the chains off herself.

Almost like a cat, Artemis gracefully leapt at Atlas as he attempted to spear the goddess. She dodged the attack and drew out a pair of hunting knives and slashed the Titan's left thigh. Ichor spewed from the wound, and she proceeded to stab a knife into his knee, before leaping away and out of his reach.

Almost as if she was bending the moonlight, a silver bow materialized in Artemis' hands and she pulled back on the string, an arrow made of pure light forming on the bow. She let the arrow fly, and it hit Atlas in the right arm, causing him to drop his spear.

Percy turned his attention to Luke, who was aggressively clashing with Bianca and Zoë, both constantly having to jump out of his reach due to their fear of being hit by the mad Son of Hermes, before Thalia would parry said strike and continue her brawl with him.

Percy's thoughts began to become incoherent, and just screams of pain. Every muscle in his body was burning. He looked down at his mother, and she looked at him, ignoring Grover, who was stopping her bleeding and trying to heal her as best he could.

Their green eyes met with each other, and a tear trickled out from the corner of her eye. "Percy…" She mumbled weakly, and a lone tear also escaped Percy's eye.

" _Get ready, Perseus._ " Percy heard Artemis' voice in his head, and he looked over to her fighting Atlas, drawing him closer to the sky. Then she made a mistake.

Atlas feinted an attack with his retrieved spear, before switching hands and then taking the goddess' legs out from underneath her, causing her to fall flat onto her back.

The Titan placed his foot on the goddess' chest and raised his spear.

"NO!" Zoë cried out and left her fight with Luke and pulled the string back on her bow, diving backwards and launching the arrow. It landed dead center in Atlas' forehead, so he almost looked like a unicorn.

This was the moment Artemis needed.

She grabbed the spear and drove it into the ground next to her. She rolled away from the stunned Atlas, using the spear as a vault to leap up and kick the Titan backwards.

He came hurtling towards Percy, and he loosened his grip on the sky. He just let himself get pushed out from underneath it and rolled as far away as quick as possible.

"No…" Atlas grumbled, "No, no, no, NOOO!" Atlas bellowed from under the sky as he lifted it up, taking it onto his shoulders.

"Hey, it's a real-life unicorn!" Percy managed out, and Atlas screamed in rage, promising them all an eternity of pain and suffering.

Percy's entire body felt weak; it was burning in pain. He crawled over to his mother, and Grover stood up and trotted away, and Percy shakily picked her up.

"Percy…" She muttered, her eyes almost shutting.

"No, don't you close your eyes. Please, don't leave me." Percy cried out and turned to Artemis.

Then, they saw it.

Luke had caught Zoë off guard and had run his sword through her stomach. He kicked her off the blade, staring at the blood spewing from her.

"ZOË!" Artemis cried out and ran over there.

With a cry of rage, Thalia kicked Luke over the edge of the mountain.

The mountain was now silent. Dead silent. Except for Atlas. He was cursing lots.

Artemis was now holding Zoë in her arms, cradling her as she slowly bled out.

It was over. They had won. But with a serious cost.

Percy looked down at Sally, stroking her long, brown hair, and sobbed.

 _ **The Demon Rites**_

 **And SCENE! This chapter was easy to write once I got my new laptop (my old one kinda blew up…). And so, I would like to thank you guys for supporting this story and such, especially you guys who came back even though you didn't know when I would next update.**

 **Now, writing so many people into this ending was very difficult. It's very hard to give everyone a job without making someone useless. It really is.**

 **Now, on with some important news. I woke up this morning to see it snowing. In England. WHAT?! But I had an exam this morning, only for to school to be closed towards the end, and then I came home, started this, went out in the snow, and now am finishing it off!**

 **I would like to thank all you guys for sticking with me these past 2 years writing this story, too. I know I have been very inconsistent with how I should be writing, and I'm sorry for it, but these A-levels decide my future at University next year. While I have gotten in, I now need to meet their offer. Yay… -_-**

 **Please, if you guys find any errors or inconsistencies in this story, please let me know and I will check them out. I have hunted every chapter for anything that I will need, but if I've missed anything, please let me know.**

 **But, I'm not going to bore you guys with a long A/N. So, I'm calling this here.**

 **Goodnight, and until next time!**

 _ **The Prince of Souls**_


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